Violence boiled over at the Australian Open yesterday when dozens of Serbian and Bosnian fans fought after the match between Novak Djokovic and Amer Delic.
The two groups of youths — many wrapped in their national flags — had been sitting peacefully about 10m from each other in an outdoor courtyard, watching defending champion Djokovic of Serbia play Bosnian-born American Delic.
Excitement built in the tiebreaker, and Djokovic won 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to reach the fourth round.
Within moments, water bottles were flying both ways, followed quickly by plastic chairs.
Other spectators quickly scrambled away from the loud, angry scuffle but it took a couple of minutes for security and police to arrive.
One Bosnian woman was hit in the head by a chair and fell to the ground before stumbling away on the arms of friends as security officers and police intervened to break up the rivals. Victoria state police said the girl had only minor injuries and was not pursuing charges.
Those suspected of participating in the skirmish were led away by police, who took the Bosnians and Serbs to different areas for questioning.
“They started it. They threw the first chair and knocked our girl down and kept throwing things at her,” said a Bosnian man who was led away by police before he could identify himself.
One angry Serb teenager, who did not want to be identified, accused the Bosnians of bringing “weapons” such as a dart gun into the grounds, pointing to his friend’s wrist, which was bleeding from three puncture wounds.
Police Inspector Chris Duthie told reporters two men had been charged with riotous behavior and discharging a missile while another man had been fined on the spot.
“The matter was dealt with very quickly and effectively by the police and we expect no more problems,” Duthie said. “We have a very effective police presence here. You can’t stop everything happening but we will make sure this sort of thing doesn’t happen [again].”
The Australian Open has been marred by a series of violent clashes since 150 Croat and Serb fans engaged in a brawl two years ago.
Last year, police used capsicum spray on a group of rowdy Greek supporters and just two days ago, two people were evicted after scuffling at a bar following a match between Croatia’s Marin Cilic and Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia.
There was a heavy police presence at yesterday’s center court match between Djokovic and Delic.
Delic said he was disappointed when told about the fighting.
“I’m really sad to hear about that,” he told a news conference after the match. “As I said a couple days ago, there’s absolutely no place for that here. This is a tennis match.”
Djokovic said he was unaware of the violence.
“I don’t think things got out of control today. I think actually we had a nice match,” Djokovic said.
“I was very happy with the way the Serbs and Bosnians were cheering, reacting on everything,” he said.
“We have big respect for each other, Amer and myself. We know each other for a long time. He’s a great guy.”
Australia has a large population of Balkan immigrants and sports events are occasionally used to display the ethnic rivalries.
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
RSS