Police say up to 20 people were ejected from the Australian Open for disruptive behaviour. The group of men were supporting Greek player Maria Sakkari in a late afternoon match on Court 8 against Nao Hibino of Japan.
“About 6.05 p.m. this evening a group of 15-20 males were evicted from the tennis for disruptive behaviour,” Victoria state police said in a statement. “The group had received numerous warnings during a match on Court 8 from a match referee, security and police. After the match the group were asked to leave and did so peacefully.”
The fans reportedly complained of racism over their eviction from Melbourne Park after the match between Greece’s 22nd seed Maria Sakkari and Japan’s Nao Hibino.
The news comes after Tsitsipas expressed his disappointment of Greek fans in the crowd, asking them to be more respectful during the match. ‘‘I really like they come and support me because that gives me a lot of positives in my game. I don’t really know why they want to go the extra mile some of the times,’’ Tsitsipas said.
READ: Stefanos Tsitsipas asks his fans to be more respectful during Australian Open matches
Sakkari won the match 7-6 (4), 6-4, with the Greek proving too strong for her opponent, demonstrating impressive serving power and accuracy.
Sakkari has now advanced to the third round of the Australian Open for the third time in her career and will now face either world number 11 Madison Keys of the United States, or world number 93 Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands.
Sourced by: AP News
