New flag furore erupts as Djokovic crushes Aus Open final
Novak Djokovic has won the Australian Open in convincing fashion to equal Rafael Nadal's Grand Slam record, a year after he was deported over his COVID vaccination status.
The Serbian star defeated Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets in the final in Melbourne on Sunday, making it Djokovic's 10th Australian Open title – equal to Nadal's Grand Slam record of 22 men's singles titles.
However, during the broadcast an eagle-eyed viewer couldn’t help but single out the disturbing appearance of a flag bearing a controversial far-right symbol, waved by a Djokovic supporter.
“Why am I seeing a Chetnik flag amongst the Serbian crowd at the Tsitsipas vs Djokovic match?” wrote Twitter user Sophie Mak. “Are ultra fascist symbols allowed in the Australian Open now?”
The Chetniks were paramilitary ultranationalists who committed war crimes during WWII. Respected tennis journo Ben Rothenberg then responded by calling for future Australian Opens to be completely flag free if security cannot control such incidents.
I really think they need to make the 2024 #AusOpen a flag-free zone if their security repeatedly can't figure this stuff out.
Tournament security has been pretty abysmal (though we haven't had the ~annual court invader during the men's final yet). https://t.co/Mztq6NstPg
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 29, 2023
“Tournament security has been pretty abysmal (though we haven’t had the ~annual court invader during the men’s final yet),” added Rothenberg.
Tennis Australia were moved to introduce a complete ban on Russian and Belarusian flags earlier in the Australian Open after a Belarusian flag was spotted being waved during a Ukrainian’s match.
Djokovic’s father Srbjan was then caught up in a controversy when he inadvertently posed alongside pro-Vladimir Putin protesters outside the stadium who were holding up a flag with the Russian leader’s face on it. Srbjan then elected not to attend the semi-final nor the final of the tournament in which his son was victorious for a record tenth time.
Images: Twitter