REMEMBER WHEN

CHAIRS were hurled and up to 30 people were ejected from the Australian Open after ethnic violence erupted between Serbian and Bosnian supporters.

The brawl at Melbourne Park followed the match between Serbian Novak Djokovic and Bosnian-born Amer Delic, who lived in and represented the US.

It was the third year in a row that racially based crowd violence has marred the Australian Open and it was inflamed by a long-held hatred between the warring countries.

The fight started when a tennis ball was thrown between the groups of supporters in Garden Square, which was quickly followed by 16 chairs, the first of which knocked a female Bosnian supporter to the ground.

The clash spilled outside the venue when punches were thrown by rival fans before police escorted the groups away in different directions.

Delic made a plea on his website earlier this week for his fans to tone down their behaviour after boisterous firstround match support. He said he was “really sad” to hear about the fight after his four-set loss to Djokovic.

“There’s absolutely no place for that. This is a tennis match,” he said.

“Novak and I are friends. We’re both competitors, obviously. In the end it was a fair match and there was no reason for such things.”

Defending champion Djokovic said the crowd’s courtside behaviour was, to an extent, understandable.

“People don’t get many chances to see their professional athletes from their countries,” he said.