TENNIS:Support for players of Croatian, Serbian and Greek background is frequently vibrant and noisy at the Australian Open, but on the opening day of this year's tournament it tipped over into an ugly clash resulting in around 150 fans being escorted from the Melbourne Tennis Centre by police and stewards, although there were no arrests.
After taunts between two groups, a brief fight erupted just after noon when Serbs and Croats, dressed in national colours, brandished flags, threw fists and water bottles and traded kicks. Police and security quickly calmed the situation by dividing the fans and escorting them out of different exits.
A small Greek contingent, supporting Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, last year's beaten finalist, were standing near the Serbs and were angry that they were also ejected.
On a day of record crowds, Steve Wood, chief executive of Tennis Australia, said: "Fans in national colours have always been a welcome feature of this tournament. However, if behaviour by individual fans or groups starts to actively interfere with the enjoyment of others, we have established a procedure to step in. We hope it sends a clear message."
The Croats were there to watch two seeds in Ivan Ljubicic, who lost, and Mario Ancic in action, while the Serbians came to follow Jelena Jankovic.
Today, with the temperature forecast to reach a scorching 39C, police and security will be on high alert for further trouble when Croatia's Marin Cilic and the Serbian Ilia Bozoljac do battle - if that is the right word - in the fourth match on Court 21.
Guardian Service
