The atmosphere at Melbourne Park has been linked to a “football match” by a disgruntled British player who joined the chorus of complaints about fan behaviour on Wednesday night at the Australian Open.
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Harriet Dart won the first set 6-4 against 18th seed Donna Vekic before the Croatian steamrolled her 6-0 6-2 in the remaining two sets on Court 14 to send knock her out of the tournament after earning a last minute place as a lucky loser.
Dart’s disappointment post-match was not with being bundled out the second round, however.
The 28-year-old was left furious by the antics of the crowd that gathered on the outside court, likening it to the hostile atmosphere created any many football stadiums around the world.
“I felt like I was at a football match. Obviously it’s great to have lots of people there watching and everything but I also think there has to be respect towards both players,” Dart said.
“I think a few people were about to be kicked out. I can only really compare it to the Billie Jean King Cup and I don’t even think I’ve had it be like that before.
“I think [the umpire] did as best as she could – maybe there should be a stricter policy in terms of if people are doing something, if they do it more than once they are out, but I don’t make those rules.”
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Dart’s comments came after former Australian player John Millman, who once defeated Roger Federer at the US Open, criticised fans for their treatment of local James Duckworth.
Duckworth lost in straight sets to Spain’s Roberto Carballés Baena, and had some fans cheering against him because they wanted to speed up his loss.
A group of Lebanese fans had gathered on Court 3 for the next match featuring Hady Habib, who became the first Lebanese man to win a grand slam match in the first round.
Habib went onto lose in three sets as well to Ugo Humbert, and Millman urged his fans to have “more class”.
“I felt really bad for ‘Ducks’, he’s a good mate of mine,” Millman told the ABC Tennis Podcast.
“You’re at your home slam and they’re cheering against you because they want to see the next match come on.
“I think that’s where you’ve got to have a bit more class. That’s what you have to deal with at the Australian Open.
“You’re going to have some rowdy supporters. We live in a very multicultural country so you’re going to have a lot of people who have ties to a lot of different countries and support their charge.”
The drama on the outside courts did not end there with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s remarkable five set win against 29th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime having to be moved on seven games into the contest.
The duo were initially on Court 8 before they were moved to Court 7 because of the noise from a neighbouring court.
Court 6, which is nicknamed the ‘party court’ as it boasts a two-storey bar overlooking the court, hosted a clash between Jacob Fearnley, who defeated Nick Kyrgios in the first round, and Arthur Cazaux where fans got loud.
Fearnley was unaware the other match had been moved until after his match, but the Scot praised the party court’s atmosphere in his press conference.
“I actually didn’t really look at the court before I went on, so when I saw the bar I was thinking it’s going to be a pretty rowdy atmosphere,” said Fearnley.
“I blocked it out as much as I could. Obviously there was some supporters who were extremely drunk, but it was a great atmosphere, amazing atmosphere.”
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Inside on John Cain Arena, fellow Brit Jack Draper was public enemy number one as he came from behind to prevail against local favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis in five sets.
Draper copped it from all angles as the fans tried to throw him off his game, but the 15th seed said he thrived off it.
“It was amazing. Obviously an electric atmosphere. I was getting quite a lot of abuse from the crowd in between serves and at the back of the court, all that stuff,” Draper said.
“Sometimes you don’t want to rile them or give it back. But to be fair, it gave me energy doing that. There were times where I was down, then I came through a tough game. It gave me energy giving it back, give it a bit of an ear.
“They are saying stuff to me, some interesting things for sure. You can probably imagine. In between serves, the whistling, the talking. I mean, it’s all fun but when you’re about to serve, it’s really difficult. I have a thick skin. It’s fun.”
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