An outrageous incident marked the match of the first round of the Australian Open between Ukrainian Ekaterina Beindl and Russian Kamilla Rakhimova.

A group of fans in the stands supported the tennis player of the aggressor country with the flag of the Russian Federation and the image of the Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin on a T-shirt.

Earlier, the organizers of the first Grand Slam tournament in the 2023 season allowed players from Russia and Belarus to compete, but only in a neutral status: without flags, anthems and other national symbols.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasily Miroshnichenko has already responded to the egregious incident on Twitter and demanded an explanation from the tournament organizers.

" I urge Tennis Australia to immediately apply its 'neutral flag' policy," The match itself ended with the victory of the Ukrainian. Ekaterina prevailed over the Russian woman in three sets - 5:7, 7:6, 1:6.

Previously, despite the ban on the symbols of the Russian Federation and Belarus at international tournaments, some fans still managed to bring the flags of the aggressor countries to the stands. In particular, this happened at the competitions in Belgrade..

In addition, in August last year, a scandal with the Ukrainian flag occurred at a tournament in Cincinnati, USA.. After a complaint from Russian tennis players, a fan with a blue and yellow flag was forced to leave the stands.