Thu 24 May 2012 | 
The Sweet Spot
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Enlarge textHere we go again, as Melbourne Park serves up another Australian Open.
Crowd trouble has arisen at the Australian Open several times over the past few years (EPA)
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A sea of international stars on display for the first grand slam of the year - advantage tournament organisers.
Yet another spate of crowd behaviour problems - double fault hooligans.
You can just imagine Tennis Australia CEO, Geoff Pollard’s delight, and that of the tournament’s sponsors, at seeing the Open make headlines around the world for all the wrong reasons.
The event had hardly started when 11 people were ejected following a match between a Croatian and Czech player and with it, came the inevitable fallout on talk back radio.
It’s a delicious piece of irony less than a week out from Australia Day.
Yet it’s the same old situation every year.
Australians seem willing to fly the flag, it’s just that flag doesn’t always have a Union Jack in the corner and a southern cross. And neither does the matching jacket or shirt.
It’s a phenomenon that, in truth, I have never been able to understand.
As the child of Italian immigrants, born and raised in Australia, it always seemed ludicrous that one would support a nation other than the one which you call home.
Sure, be proud of your heritage. But don’t put it above the country of your birth.
Unfortunately, I’ve experienced first hand just how uncomfortable and intimidating some crowd members can be.
It’s 2007 and Novak Djokovic has swept all before him on his way to a final showdown with Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
A group of boisterous Serbian supporters, with perfect Australian accents, passionately cheer for their man.
It’s all harmless fun. The Serbian chants. The shouts. The jeers. As the match progresses and with every trip for refreshments, things suddenly turn ugly.
Fellow supporters are told in no uncertain terms where to go should they dare applaud a Tsonga point.
The temperature in the crowd drops to below freezing. And seemingly so does the IQ of the offenders of the peace.
It’s the last place I want to be. And I imagine, it’s the last place most Australians wanted to be on Monday. Or in the future if the trend continues.
It will be interesting to see how many Greek-Australians at Melbourne Park will support Lleyton Hewitt in his third round clash against Marcos Baghdatis.
Judging by the number of Greek flags in the crowd during the Cypriot’s recent match against David Ferrer, I’m guessing not many.
Australians all let us rejoice.
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Comments (7)
Poppycock
Understandably many new Australians and some older ones wish to support the country of their birth but those that blatantly thrust their beliefs of that country in Australia should be banned from being a spectator. It is also clear that those that are welcomed in Australia due to difficulties in their country and don't support Australia should admit their cowardice for not fighting in their own country for their cause and return
05 Feb 2010 9:05 AEST
From: Fairfield Vic
Retired
Get rid of the English Flag. Let's look to the Eureka Flag. The first symbol of revolt against Colonial serfdom. Canada has done it and we must follow suit.No longer should we be forced to display the flag of Colonial serfdom. We must grow up and stand proud, free of control by an unelected foreigner. We must make this change and show that we have grown up enough to be a Free and Independent Republic of Australia.
04 Feb 2010 23:36 AEST
From: Seaholme
Mr
I agree that flag waving is a bad practice in sports. It is the athlete we admire not his/her nationality. However when we get a truly Australian flag and not the anglo-colonial one with the union jack on it we might feel differently. The current Australian flag is for the Cronulla mob.
25 Jan 2010 12:17 AEST
From: North Sydney
Australia Day
How apt with Australia day tomorrow.. its so true well said Mr Grasso
25 Jan 2010 6:41 AEST
From: Bangkok
Australianese
As a proud Australianese, with my formative years as girt by sea as any other, I like people who support different countries. As Churchill said: 'Patriotism is the last refuge of the patriotic.' That was Lee Yu Churchill, of Narrabeen. As for tennis, well, it seems the players can change nationality at the drop of a yellow ball, so why can't fans? The Real Game is in Africa in June anyway. I'm supporting North Korea. They try hardest and really need a break.
23 Jan 2010 7:55 AEST
From: Melbourne
Yes
Good point. Well Made. It is quite baffling when Australians feel a need to cheer another country other than their own.
22 Jan 2010 12:33 AEST
From: Melbourne
What does the flag have to do with it?
The problem here is not that these supporters are draped in flags other than the Australian flag (which by the way they have every right to do given our free, democratic and tolerant society) but that they are acting like hooligans. If a group of supporters wearing Australian flags had intimidated the crowd in the same way during a Hewitt match then you wouldn't frame it as a race issue, so why do it here? Hooligans are hooligans, regardless of the flag.
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World News Australia's Robert Grasso analyses the week in sport. Follow @RobertGrasso
Robert Grasso Robert Grasso is an award-winning Senior Sports Journalist, Producer and Presenter for SBS World News Australia.
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