"It's fantastic, it really made me laugh" - Sky Sports pundits share glowing analysis on 'rage room' at recent ATX Open

With recent events taking up the spotlight, the ATX Open Austin have made the decision to create a 'rage room' where players are free to go in with full privacy on offer to let off some steam. It is a decision that former British tennis players Tim Henman, Laura Robson and Naomi Cavaday were a fan of.

Player's privacy was a huge talking point from the aftermath of the Australian Open. A viral video emerged of Coco Gauff trying to find a quiet space backstage after her dreadful showing against Elina Svitolina. The American thought that she was out of range of cameras, but this was not the case with them picking up the full coverage of the 21-year-old obliterating her racket.

She spoke about this afterwards in her press conference, with players such as Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic also coming to her defence while asking for more privacy among tennis players when away from the spotlight.

This is where the ATX Open's idea of a rage room came from. No cameras, no stress of anything going out in the public and the perfect place for players to let out some anger after a rough performance or defeat.

They showed it off in a post on X. "Introducing the ATX Open rage room - the ‌first of its kind - where players can privately express frustration or emotion in a safe, camera-free environment," it stated.

This innovation has got a lot of people talking, with a lot of support going out towards it. This was definitely the case for former British number one Henman who shared his thoughts on it.

"We've all had a moment at a time or a place. It's a different world that we live in and obviously what happened with Gauff was unfortunate for her, however, the media drive a lot of things in sport," Henman commented.

"They drive in revenues so it was a bit embarrassing and unfortunate that she was upset and no one wants to see that, but when you're paying for tens and tens of millions of dollars then there has to be two sides of the coin. So rage room, no cameras, private space, I like it."

It can be common to break a racket on court on the occasion but with more media and public scrutiny on these players, a lot of them refrain until away from the public eye. "I could remember a few times when you break a racket after the match but it was a different era. Wooden rackets break a lot easier," Henman admitted.

Robson saw the funny side of it. "It's fantastic," she exclaimed. "It really made me laugh, especially in Australia where players have no privacy to go and break their racket, so now they've got the perfect opportunity to go in and break as many rackets as they want to, shout as much as they want to, and just let it all out."

If Robson was still playing, then she could have had a chance to enter and let out some much-needed anger. It may not be, however, totally about tennis. "Slow walkers for me. That is my number one pet peeve," she said.

Former professional now-turned commentator Cavaday was a massive fan of the privacy aspect. "For players to have somewhere private to go after losses is definitely a good thing for them. To be able and just go and have a bit of peace and quiet, but I was never one to be filled with rage."

It is yet to be seen if the Indian Wells Open will introduce something similar to this. The first 1000 tournament of the year in the USA is set to kick off a busy March with the Miami Open following in suit.