Hey, Australian Open TV viewers: Those claps aren’t real

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Hey, Australian Open TV viewers: The crowd’s loud clapping and mid-match chatter you hear on the telecasts are not real. Tennis Australia decided to artificially amplify the ambiance while spectators are banned from Melbourne Park by the Victoria state government because of a five-day lockdown in response to new COVID-19 cases in the area. So when Serena Williams delivered an ace, it might have seemed from afar as if that shot were greeted by raucous applause. But Williams — and her opponent — couldn’t hear a thing, other than from the handful of credentialed guests allowed in the seats.