Unusual scenes at the 2025 Australian Open! Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime was all set to play against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) in the second round at Court 8. The Canadian entered this contest following his impressive four-set win over Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round. However, Davidovich didn’t have to put much effort into his first match because China’s Shang Juncheng was forced to give him a walkover in the second set. So, both Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina were desperate to keep their winning momentum going in their second-round clash. However, a hilarious incident raised a few question marks on their match!
What really happened, though? Well, according to multiple reports, their second-round match was suspended and moved from Court 8 to Court 7 due to the noise coming in from the adjacent Court 6. The Frenchman, Arthur Cazaux, was then taking on the British tennis star, Jacob Fearnley, at Court 6, and guess what?
A very large band of Frenchmen was seen cheering very loudly for Cazaux, and this is what forced the change of courts midway through Felix Auger-Aliassime’s match with the score at 4-3 in favor of the Spaniard. The atmosphere was just like a Davis Cup tie, with passionate fans from France and Britain vocally supporting their players. The officials were seen having a chat with both players during this momentary pause in their match. Later on, both of them agreed to make this shift.
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INSÓLITO!!
Felix Auger-Aliassime 🇨🇦 y Alejandro Davidovich 🇪🇸 fueron movidos del Court 8 al Court 7.
¿La razón? En el Court 6 (al lado) hay una banda muy grande de franceses alentando muy ruidosamente a Arthur Cazaux 🇫🇷.#AusOpen, no trates de entenderlo. pic.twitter.com/OCGg0imFql— Lautaro Miranda Núñez (@Lautarotenn1s) January 15, 2025
Felix Auger-Aliassime had a bright start to his season on the ‘Land Down Under.’ He entered the 2025 Australian Open, following his incredible title triumph at the Adelaide International. The Canadian beat America’s Sebastian Korda in that final match by three sets. Before his first-round match against Struff, the Canadian was seen sharing a few words with the Australian crowd.
The player said, “In terms of tennis, it’s a great place to practice our sport. People love tennis here. Every match I play here, regardless of if it’s in Adelaide or in Sydney, Brisbane, I was in Perth for the first time, or in Melbourne…Every day it’s packed with people. You just feel this vibe that everybody enjoys this part of the year. It’s their summer here, and for us players, it’s a treat to come here every start of the year.” Apart from a few shocking exits and the rain delays, even the crowd at Melbourne Park has been in the headlines during the 2025 Australian Open. Let’s check out some other controversial moments surrounding the rowdy crowd at this mega event.
The Australian Open crowd is taking away all the limelight at the moment
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Australian Open’s ‘rowdy fans’ are well known in the tennis world! A couple of days ago, we saw some bizarre scenes in another of Jacob Fearnley’s matches. Aussie superstar Nick Kyrgios, who was making a return to the Australian Open after almost three years, was on the opposite side of the net at that time. Kyrgios received a grand welcome from the Aussie fans ahead of this epic battle, but eventually, he had to go down to this young Brit in straight sets. However, there were a few instances in this match that stirred a bit of controversy in the tennis world.
The situation turned ugly in the third set when the Aussie mounted a comeback and looked like he might well send that match to a fourth set. Fans were literally cheering for each of his points and getting behind Nick Kyrgios very strongly. However, surprisingly, later on, they even started to cheer for Jacob Fearnley’s double faults and unforced errors. Fans expressed their delight with loud voices whenever he committed a mistake in that epic battle. After seeing this incident, some of the fans on social media labeled it a ‘disgraceful’ gesture from the Australian Open crowd. What did Fearnley say about this controversy, though?
“Obviously I was extremely nervous. It wasn’t really until I walked out there that I actually was kind of calm. I kind of knew that I couldn’t really show any emotion because I felt that the crowd was just going to eat that alive,” said Jacob Fearnley. Later on, he even revealed that it got so loud during the match that he couldn’t even hear his coach. “I couldn’t hear anything. Especially in between first and second serves, it was quite difficult, to be honest,” said the Brit.
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However, this isn’t the only incident! We saw a strange incident of the Australian Open crowd crossing the line during Alex de Minaur’s match against Botic Van de Zandschulp. In that match, a fan was spotted shouting, “I love you Demon,” right at the moment when the Dutchman began his service motion. It was a very vital moment in that match with the scores at deuce at 4-4. Zandschulp managed to hold his serve, but the chair umpire Louise Engzell was not impressed at all.
She took her mic and addressed the crowd, saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s very disturbing for both players when you’re screaming before the service motion.” So, excitement is building with every week, and these are some of the controversial moments featuring the crowd at the 2025 Australian Open. Can you recall any such similar incident from a major tournament in the past?
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