Russell Crowe not involved for once

The annual tradition of Croat rowdiness at the Aussie Open has been enthusiastically upheld at this year’s tournament, when a motley crew of around 100 Balkan tennis fans threw flares at mounted police outside the stadium complex, to the chant of “all cops are bastards”.

Several violent disagreements between Serb and Croat supporters interrupted last year’s event, and the Australian police have introduced tough measures to try to prevent the former Yugoslavia’s ethnic and political tensions from overshadowing the lovely tennis this time round.

Those tough measures included asking the flare throwers to quieten down as they entered the venue, and fans guilty of bad behaviour courtside will be banned from the tennis for 24 hours. Y’hear that, you rapscallions? You’ll have to wait a whole day before you can come back in to set off more flares and chant about the similarities between your former neighbours and lady dogs – be warned!