‘Party court’ wreaks havoc on neighbouring court as second round clash forced to make late-night move

The Australian Open party court caused mass chaos overnight after a chair umpire was forced to make an unprecedented call.

The Australian Open’s ‘party court’ has wreaked havoc again with the second round clash between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina suspended due to the unbearable noise late on Wednesday night.

Rowdy crowd behaviour on the highly controversial ‘party court’ saw the match between the 29th seed and his Spanish opponent brought to a screeching halt.

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On court 6 – also known as the ‘party court’ – Frenchman Arthur Cazaux was locked in a tense encounter with Brit Scot Jacob Fearnley, with the atmosphere more similar to a crucial Davis Cup encounter than an early round Aussie Open match.

And while Cazaux eventually lost the match in four sets, it didn’t stop his fans from going berserk throughout the affair.

The noise was so loud that Fokina and Auger-Aliassime were constantly distracted during the opening set of their match on their neighbouring court.

Felix Auger-Aliassime (L) of Canada and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (R) of Spain move courts as a result of rowdy fan behaviour on Wednesday night. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

The rivals were just seven games into the first set of their court 8 match when it was suspended and moved over to court 7 due to constant disruptions caused by the party court – which earned its nickname due to its proximity to one of the bars including one two-storey bar overlooking the court.

With the score at 3-4 in the first set, the chair umpire and an Australian Open official asked if the players wanted to switch courts to move further away from the noise and they immediately nodded their heads in agreement.

Organisers were able to find another court at Melbourne Park and the play continued.

Much to fan disgruntlement an announcement by the umpire over the speaker system said: “Ladies and gentlemen, the match is now suspended on this court. We move to court 7 in just a few minutes.”

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime was distracted by the noise. (Photo by Paul Crock / AFP)

Tennis reporter Jose Morgado took to X to write: “First time I’ve seen this”.

While former tennis star Daniela Hantuchova was dumbfounded by the level of noise coming out of the party court during the clash between Cazaux and Fearnley.

“I was walking past the court and I could not believe the noise,” she told Stan Sport’s Grand Slam Daily.

“We talked about when Sania Mirza was bringing the Indian crowds in and in the past years we had the Swedes, we had the Argentinians, but this was like soccer with baseball and basketball combined.

“I mean it was so loud and of course when you play against a French guy, you have to expect that the French people get involved as well.

“And actually the players, everyone that was outside, everyone was saying, the coaches, the players, like ‘you guys, you have to go and see it yourself’.

“It was very special.”

Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina overcame a two-set deficit to win 6-7(7), 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 and knock the No. 29 seed out. (Photo by Paul Crock / AFP)

The match between Fokina and Auger-Aliassime went close to five hours and ended up finishing at around 1.15am as Fokina overcame a two-set deficit to win 6-7(7), 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 and knock the No. 29 seed out.

But the court change was not the only inflammatory moment during the gruelling five-set clash.

Fokina was given a time code violation in the final set, with the Canadian up 3-2 as the Spaniard held up the match for several minutes as he argued with the chair umpire.

The 25-year-old briefly refused to play out of protest before continuing.

The delay shifted the momentum, with Fokina breaking and serving out the final set 6-3.