Is it time to ban babies from the tennis?

The Australian Open should do more to cater for parents before banning babies from the tennis, a director of Australia’s chief family affairs research body has told Neil Mitchell.

Spanish star Rafa Nadal was frustrated by a crying baby in the crowd during last night’s quarter-final lost to Marin Čilić.

The umpire refused to eject the child, but some have suggested there should be a ban.

Anne Hollonds, Director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies, conceded the noise shouldn’t be tolerated.

But she said it would wrong of the Australian Open prevent young parents from attending when the even it positions itself as a family affair.

“My sentiment is that the Australian Open is meant to be a family-friendly event,” she told Neil Mitchell.

“There are things the organisers can do to make it easier for young parents to participate.

“You need to look at the fact a lot of babies don’t cry a lot, and if there’s somewhere for parents to quickly slip out and watch on a screen … then maybe that’s something to look at.”

Ms Hollonds said responsibility also fell with parents.

“But I think it certainly is a community expectation in a lot of places that if a crying baby is interrupting a performance — say, in a theatre or something like that — then you step outside.”

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