Pro Palestine protestor evicted from Australian Open after throwing leaflets on court

A protester has tossed leaflets emblazoned with “free Palestine” on to an Australian Open court, disrupting a tense five-set battle between Olympic champion Alexander Zverev and Brit Cameron Norrie.

The fourth-round encounter on Margaret Court Arena was briefly halted during the sixth game of the third set on Monday afternoon after a woman wearing a face-mask threw a raft on leaflets from the stands.

The leaflets were printed with the words “while watching tennis bombs are dropping on Gaza” and “Australia is complicit in war crimes and genocide”.

Ball kids gathered up the papers and the protester was removed before the match continued, with German No.6 seed Zverev going on to triumph 7-5 3-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 (10-3).

Palestinian, Israeli, Russian and Belarusian flags are banned from Melbourne Park amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

In a statement late on Monday evening, a Tennis Australia spokeswoman praised two patrons who stepped in to stop the protester.

“As soon as the behaviour was identified and reported, venue security was deployed to detain the individual,” she said.

“The individual was subsequently evicted from the event.

“(Melbourne and Olympic Parks and Tennis Australia) do not tolerate any behaviour which seeks to disrupt the event and impacts other fans’ enjoyment of the Australian Open.”

Speaking to reporters after the match, Zverev noted his surprise at fans getting to the woman before staff, given the event’s tight security.

He said he understood both sides of the debate about the Israel-Palestine conflict.

“There’s obviously a lot going on in the world and a lot of quite bad things happen,” the 26-year-old said.

“I understand some people are frustrated. Of course, a tennis match has nothing particularly to do with it.”

Victoria Police said officers were told a small group of patrons had also thrown pamphlets onto nearby Kia Arena and scattered others at the entrance of Garden Square.

“Police detained a 35-year-old woman and a 36-year-old woman to obtain their details,” a police spokeswoman said.

“The duo were given a direction to leave the event. No offences were detected during the incident.”

A group claiming responsibility for the demonstration suggested thousands of leaflets had been dropped across Melbourne Park.

Video also showed a grey ute fitted out with loud-speakers playing audio of air raids outside the event as police watched on.

The group accused the Open of being “complicit in the genocidal attempt of Israel to erase Palestine and its people” over its prohibition on all symbols associated with Palestine.

“We call on the Australian government to remove its embassy from Israel, cut all diplomatic and military ties, and join nations around the world demanding an immediate and unconditional ceasefire,” it said in a statement.

“Any country actively supporting genocide should not be the host of prestigious world sporting events.”