'What a disgrace': Australian Open rocked by 'disgusting' scenes

There were ugly scenes at the Australian Open on Thursday night when Daniil Medvedev was forced to ask the crowd to "show some respect" during an on-court interview after his win over Nick Kyrgios.

There has been confusion all week about a small section of the crowd at Melbourne Park yelling "siuuu" - a celebratory chant created by football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo derived from the Spanish word for 'yes'.

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The chant sounds exactly like booing, leading to mass confusion among TV commentators and fans.

Spectators were once again using the chant on Thursday night at Rod Laver Arena, however they appeared to turn into actual boos while Medvedev was speaking in his post-match interview on court.

Medvedev was visibly shocked when his first response was booed, before he addressed the crowd directly.

“Sorry, I can’t hear you. Show some respect for Jim Courier,” Medvedev said.

“Thank you, guys. Let him speak please. If you respect somebody, at least respect Jim Courier.

"What I was saying is … I cannot hear him, guys.”

Medvedev was also irked by the crowd during the match, with some fans appearing to boo him between first and second serves.

“I came to win this match and I am happy I managed to do it," he said.

“That is the only choice when you get booed between first and second serve. You have to stay calm and win the match.”

During the interview, Courier attempted to explain to Medvedev that the fans might have actually been saying "siuuu" rather than booing.

Medvedev then took a cheeky dig when he wrote "siuu" on the camera lens before leaving court.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, the World No.2 said: "It's a little bit disappointing.

"A few moments on my serve, where he managed to make some good returns, and then break point on second serve, and people are cheering like you've made a double-fault.

"That's just disappointing. It's not everybody who's doing it - but those who are doing it probably have a low IQ."

TV viewers flocked to social media to condemn the crowd's behaviour, with many labelling it "disgusting" and "disgraceful".

Daniil Medvedev too good for Nick Kyrgios

Medvedev, who's now being tipped by Kyrgios to win the event after his brilliant performance, added in his press conference: "It's not easy to play against the crowd.

"I feel like these matches are not easy to play, but they stay as fun matches afterwards, because in the end, we gave the crowd a big show - probably Nick more, because, well, he's a big entertainer."

Kyrgios wowed fans with his incredible array of tricks but was eventually outclassed by the ice-cool Russian, bowing out with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 4-6 6-2 defeat.

While second seed Medvedev remains on track to capture back-to-back grand slam titles following his US Open breakthrough last September, Kyrgios faces another rankings freefall.

The 26-year-old, who peaked at No.13 in 2016, had dropped to 115 before this year's first slam following more than four months without a match.

He will now slide to at least 124, putting his guaranteed French Open spot in jeopardy unless he can recover ground before the Roland Garros slam begins in May.

"He's just so confident right now and to be honest I threw everything I could at him," Kyrgios said.

"I served consistently 220km/h for three-and-a-half hours and played pretty well from the back, created plenty of opportunities on return game.

"I'm super proud of my performance though, from where I was with my struggles the last four or five months.

"To be feeling like this and obviously having Covid a couple of days before (the tournament), I'm just proud of the way I responded and I wouldn't have been able to do it without my team."

with AAP

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