- Incident was captured on camera
- Happened as the global broadcast began
- Two officials had to intervene
A global audience tuned in to the Australian Open on Sunday just in time to see a selfie-hungry fan stripped of his credentials and tossed out of the tournament.
The fan managed to get very close to eventual champion Jannik Sinner just prior to his epic five-set win over Russia’s Daniil Medvedev at Melbourne Park before officials intervened.
The timing was unfortunate, with the scene caught by Australian Open cameras just as the global broadcast began for the men’s final.
Sinner was zipping up his jacket and inspecting his racquet bag as he heard a voice close by.
The man then appeared on camera, positioning himself against a partition and asking for a selfie, which Sinner initially agreed to.
Sinner was more than happy to sign autographs and pose for selfies after the Australian Open final had concluded
Thousands of Aussies and Italian expats cheered on Sinner as he won his first grand slam
The officials descended on the man with the first trying unsuccessfully to remove him from the scene.
Then security intervened, ripping away the man’s credentials from his neck, shaking his head and then frog-marching him away from the tennis star.
Commentator Mark Petchey had just gone live and mentioned the incident on air.
‘Hello and welcome to everyone for today’s men’s final of the Australian Open,’ he said.
‘And there is one of the men of the moment and everybody wants to get a picture with him prior to the final because he may well emerge as the champion, Jannik Sinner.’
The man was all smiles as security approached him for getting too close to Sinner
It got very serious, very quickly as the man was stripped of his accreditation and ejected from the area
Fortunately, the incident did little to disrupt the 22-year-old star, although he did drop the opening two sets against Medvedev before rallying to claim a memorable title win.
Sinner enjoyed enormous support from Aussies with Italian heritage and was more than happy to sign autographs and pose for selfies after the match.
‘It’s the ‘happy slam’, it’s a very, very nice place to be,’ Sinner said.
‘In Europe it’s snow and where my parents are it’s minus 20 degrees in the morning, so it’s better running in the sun here.
‘It’s obviously a huge tournament for me, I want to thank everyone for making this slam so special.’
