‘Quite a lot of abuse’: Wild crowds cause drama at AO

Rowdy crowds at the Australian Open prompted the chair umpire on the so-called “people’s court” to shush boisterous fans on multiple occasions, and forced a late-night match to be moved because of noise from a neighbouring court.

Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain were stopped midway through their first set on Wednesday night to move across to court seven because the adjacent match between Frenchman Arthur Cazaux and Jacob Fearnley had become too loud and distracting.

Jack Draper reacts to the wild crowd on John Cain Arena.Credit: AP

On the other side of the precinct, Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis and Britain’s Jack Draper were going head-to-head on John Cain Arena at the same time. Draper said in his post-match press conference that fans were hurling abuse at him from the stands.

Far from being offended or annoyed, Draper said he thrived on the heckling and channelled a famous Australian, Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglou, in soaking up the attention.

“I enjoy it. It was amazing,” Draper said. “Obviously, electric atmosphere. You know, obviously getting quite a lot of abuse from the crowd in between the serves, the back of the court and all that sort of stuff.

“I think sometimes you don’t want to sort of 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, and I was feeling it a little bit. It gave me energy giving it back [to the crowd] a little bit.”

Australian supporters at the Jack Draper and Thanasi Kokkinakis match.Credit: Getty Images

Chair umpire Marijana Veljovic had to intervene multiple times before Draper’s serve to ask the crowd to be quiet.

“Your cheering is great, but please don’t destroy it by doing it in between serves,” Veljovic told the crowd.

Draper, who won the match in five sets after four hours and 35 minutes on court, said it was possibly the most raucous crowd he had played in front of.

“It’s difficult. Obviously in between serves and stuff, like the whistling, talking, I mean, it’s all fun, but when you are about to serve, it’s really difficult,” he said.

“Obviously some of the stuff they’re saying, [at] the back of the court and all that, it’s not easy to play with. It is a bit of fun. I have a thick skin. It’s fun.”

Draper said he took inspiration from Postecoglou, who was on the end of abuse from rival fans during Tottenham’s FA Cup fixture against non-league club Tamworth on Sunday. Vision of Postecoglou laughing off the taunts emerged on social media.

Ange Postecoglou after Spurs’ FA Cup win over Tamworth.Credit: Getty Images

“I was watching a few of the Premier League ones with the FA Cup, everyone getting on Ange’s back the other night, and he just stood there taking it,” said Draper, who is due to play another Australian, Aleksandar Vukic, in the next round.

“It’s good sport, it’s entertainment, that’s what it is. Like I said, it gave me a lot of energy. I appreciate that.”

However, the comments were insulting enough that the Englishman wasn’t willing to disclose them after the match.

“Some interesting things for sure. You can probably imagine. I don’t want to say,” he said.

The vision of Postecoglou laughing at Tamworth fans turned out to be misleading, too. The Australian manager said on Tuesday that some of the abuse and fan behaviour was unacceptable.

“The stuff I heard was pretty vile and detestable, and getting things thrown at me, not a great experience, but we’re expected to be the bigger person,” he said.

“I would have loved to have turned around and not be the bigger person in that moment, but you deal with it and go on.”

Earlier on court three, hundreds of Lebanese fans packed in to watch newfound hero Hadi Habib take on Ugo Humbert.

Humbert won in straight sets, but Habib supporters were relentless, and against typical tennis etiquette, cheered and taunted Humbert when he faulted on serve.