{"id":264306,"date":"2023-01-17T05:24:36","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T06:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=264306"},"modified":"2023-01-18T14:00:24","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T14:00:24","slug":"tennis-star-weighs-in-on-controversial-ao-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=264306","title":{"rendered":"Tennis star weighs in on controversial AO ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

UPDATE:<\/strong> A ban on displaying Russian and Belarusian flags hasn't stopped fans, who have reportedly been spotted flaunting the rules at this year's Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Tennis Australia banned the flags after Ukraine's ambassador "strongly condemn[ed]" the display in the stands.<\/p>\n

The governing body initially allowed fans to display the flags on the basis that they did not cause any disruptions.\ufeff<\/p>\n

LIVE UPDATES: <\/strong>Australian Open 2023 day two highlights<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Uncomfortable question hangs over Kyrgios call<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Display of Russia flag at Australian Open condemned by Ukraine<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

However, that lasted just one day and by day two of the competition, the ban was introduced.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, fans were spotted at John Cain Arena sporting the flags on Tuesday morning when Russia's Andrey Rublev faced Austrian Dominic Thiem.<\/p>\n

Sanctions in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine have meant Russian and Belarusian athletes compete as neutrals.<\/p>\n

Aryna Sabalenka is among the contingent of athletes running flag-less in this year's tournament.<\/p>\n

\"Aryna<\/p>\n

The Australian Open and US Open doubles winner said she has been left disillusioned by the sanctions.<\/p>\n

Recently, she voiced her frustration with Wimbledon's restrictions and echoed that sentiment on Tuesday after her straight-sets win over Tereza Martincova.<\/p>\n

Watch the Australian Open live and free on the Nine Network: Channel 9, 9Gem and<\/strong><\/em> 9NOW<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

"I really thought that like tennis – not tennis, just the sport – is nothing to do with politics," said the Belarusian.<\/p>\n

"But, I mean, if everyone feels better this way, then it's okay.<\/p>\n

"I mean, I have zero control on it. What can I say? They did it, okay, no flags, no flags. Okay<\/p>\n

"I don't know. I'm pretty sure they ('re) upset about that, and, I mean, if Tennis Australia made this decision to make them feel better, okay.<\/p>\n

"They did it, I mean, what can I do, okay? I can do nothing."<\/p>\n

\"Russian<\/p>\n

A group of fans (pictured above) raised eyebrows on Monday when they waved a Russian flag in support of Kamilla Rakhimova who faced Ukrainian Kateryna Baindl in the first round, with Ukrainian fans calling security and police to the stands.<\/p>\n

"Flags from Russia and Belarus are banned onsite at the Australian Open," Tennis Australia said in a statement Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

"Our initial policy was that fans could bring them in but could not use them to cause disruption. Yesterday we had an incident where a flag was placed courtside.<\/p>\n

"The ban is effective immediately.<\/p>\n

"We will continue to work with the players and our fans to ensure the best possible environment to enjoy the tennis."<\/p>\n

In light of the war in Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian tennis players have been permitted to play at the Australian Open but must do so "without flags or country recognition."<\/p>\n

"I strongly condemn the public display of the Russian flag during the game of the Ukrainian tennis player Kateryna Baindl at the Australian Open today," Vasyl Myroshnychenko wrote on Twitter on Monday, alongside a photo showing the flag on display.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I call on Tennis Australia to immediately enforce its 'neutral flag' policy."<\/p>\n

It's unclear who was responsible for displaying the flag during the match.<\/p>\n

An agency photo also shows the Russian flag on display in the stands during the first-round match between Daniil Medvedev and USA's Marcos Giron.<\/p>\n

CNN contacted Tennis Australia but did not immediately receive a response.<\/p>\n

Baindl went on to win the match 7-5, 6-7(10-8), 6-1 and will face American Caty McNally in the second round.<\/p>\n

Tennis' response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been a point of controversy over the past year.<\/p>\n

Last year, Wimbledon organisers banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in the tournament in the face of "unjustified and unprecedented military aggression," according to a statement released in April.<\/p>\n

The ATP and WTA Tours, the governing bodies of men's and women's tennis, later responded by stripping Wimbledon of ranking points in the face of what they deemed "discrimination" towards Russian and Belarusian players.<\/p>\n

After her first-round victory at the Australian Open, Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk said she will not shake hands with rivals from Russia and Belarus, who she feels have not done enough to speak out against the invasion.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATE: A ban on displaying Russian and Belarusian flags hasn't stopped fans, who have reportedly been spotted flaunting the rules at this year's Australian Open. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=264306"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264308,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264306\/revisions\/264308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=264306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=264306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=264306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}