Brawl between Serbian, Croatian fans mars Australian Open

15/01/2007

Scores of Serbian and Croatian fans were ejected from the Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday after engaging in a brief scuffle.

(AAP, AFP, AP, Reuters, BBC, DPA, CNN, Bloomberg, The Age, The Daily Telegraph, Sportinglife.com - 15/01/07)

Serbian fans were involved in a scuffle with their Croatian counterparts. [Getty Images]

A clash between Serbian and Croatian fans marred the opening day of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday (January 15th).

About an hour after the start of this year's first Grand Slam tennis tournament, dozens of police and security guards rushed to break up the brawl between the two rival groups just outside the Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park. About 150 people were ejected from the main venue of the two-week event and had their tickets confiscated.

"They were mostly Serbians ejected as they were upsetting the Croatians," said Victoria Police spokeswoman Katherine Jess, adding that no one had been arrested or injured. "Police are now meeting with Tennis Australia officials to work out the next move."

The Australian daily The Age, however, reported that the brawl injured at least one Croatian, who was hit over the head with a flagpole.

Witnesses said that verbal taunts between the Serbian and Croatian fans wearing their national colours quickly escalated into a scuffle with some using flagpoles as weapons. Punches, bottles and beer cups were reportedly thrown and some spectators were kicked before police and security guards intervened.

"The Serbs were chanting against the Croatians, the Croatians were chanting against the Serbs and it all got out of hand," the news sources quoted an unnamed witness as telling Australian radio.

The Serbian fans were at the tournament to support 11th seed youngster Jelena Jankovic, while the Croatians had gathered to watch the matches involving their country's Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic, seeded 9th and 5th, respectively. The brawling occurred when Jankovic and Ancic were both on court.

Australian Open organisers made it clear that misdemeanour would not be tolerated.

"Fans in national colours have always been a welcome feature of the tournament," CNN quoted Tennis Australia chief Steve Wood as saying in a statement Monday. "However, if behaviour by individual fans or groups starts to actively interfere with the enjoyment of others, we have established processes in place to step in. The venue staff here are highly experienced in this area and acted swiftly, in conjunction with the police, to control the situation and to escort the troublemakers off site without further incident."

Jankovic, who easily defeated Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak 6-3, 6-3 in just 58 minutes Monday, said ethnic divisions were out of place at the tournament.

"I think just here in Melbourne that there is this kind of problem," she said. "Anywhere else in the world it's fine. I don't like it when they are fighting against each other and kind of booing the other player just because they are from some other country. I think that's not fair."

Serbian supporters booed Belgian Kim Clijsters during her win over Jankovic at the Sydney International last week and chanted during her victory speech.

Ancic, who defeated Japan's Go Soeda 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 on Monday, defended the Croatia fans. "They're well-known for their good supporting, correct supporting and I've been here many years," he said.

The organisers reportedly plan tighter security measures for the match between Croatia's Marin Cilic and Serbia's Ilia Bozoljac on Tuesday.