The scandalous scenes unfolded during the quarter-final between Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Russia’s Andrei Rublev on the main stage of the Australian Open. The Serbian played big and won convincingly 6–1, 6–2, 6–4 on the fashionable Rod Laver Arena. However, the powerful display ended up in the shadow of troublemakers. Because while Russian and Belarusian tennis players must play under a white, neutral flag, it is also not allowed to have them in the stands. The same applies to the war symbol “Z”. The Australian Open has put them on the list of banned objects and symbols, but that didn’t stop a large group of supporters from breaking the rules. STARS: Serbian Novak Djokovic and Russian Andrej Rublev. The latter has previously distanced itself from Russia’s warfare against Ukraine. Photo: PAUL CROCK / AFP Almost 15,000 attendees could hear the shouts of “Serbia, Russia, Serbia, Russia” outside the stadium. A group gathered around a Russian flag with a picture of President Vladimir Putin after the match, according to the Telegraph. Inside Rod Laver Arena, one of the security guards in attendance tricked him into donning a double set of T-shirts. When he threw off the white one he arrived with, he showed off a T-shirt with the war symbol “Z” on a black background. The man stood with a Serbian grouping throughout the match. After the match, he hid the Z logo behind a black jacket and had the white T-shirt signed by Novak Djokovic. STANDING WITH SERBIAN FANS: Here is the man wearing the black T-shirt with Z in a black jacket, on the far right of the photo. He holds up the T-shirt that covered the illegal logo. Photo: HANNAH MCKAY / Reuters In the picture, the man can be seen pulling down the T-shirt with the inscription “Djokovic, Dokic, Messi”. Four people expelled Tennis Australia, the organizer of this year’s first Grand Slam tournament, writes in a press release that four people were asked to leave the stadium for displaying inappropriate flags and symbols, as well as threatening the security guards. The statement said that “Victoria Police have intervened and are continuing to question them. The safety of those attending is our top priority and we are working together with the security guards and the authorities”. Former Ukrainian tennis player Oleksandr Dolgopolov is advocating that he should be banned from all future events in Australia. Already in the first round of the tournament, the guidelines around flags were broken. When Ukrainian Kateryna Baindl met Russian Kamilla Rakhimova in the first round, a Russian flag was hung behind the stands. The incident was condemned by Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshchenko, who called on Tennis Australia to enforce its own rules. PS! Russian Karen Khatsjanov is in the men’s semi-finals at the Australian Open, while the Belarusian duo Viktorija Azarenka and Aryna Sabalenka are playing in their respective semi-finals on the women’s side. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament that does not allow players from the two countries to participate.
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Pro-Russian activists stole the headlines from Djokovic – threatening security guards and honoring Putin
