THROWN OUT: Police officers trying to remove rowdy fans during the match between Fernando Gonzalez and Konstantinos Economidis yesterday. Three spectators were evicted. -- PHOTO: BLOOMBERG NEWS

Police were called in to deal with crowd trouble and Indian player Sania Mirza had to contend with political sensitivities.

Police used pepper spray on fans when crowd trouble hit the season's first Grand Slam for the second year running.

Three people were evicted for assaulting police, failing to obey lawful direction and indecent language.

In a statement, Victoria Police said they resorted to the spray because they feared for their safety after fans became aggressive toward them.

The police had earlier failed to cut out what they described as 'offensive chanting'.

Australian Open FIRST ROUND Men's singles: Roger Federer (Sui) bt Diego Hartfield (Arg) 6-0 6-3 6-0, Dmitry Tursunov (Rus) bt Xavier Malisse (Bel) 6-7(1-7) 5-7 6-2 6-1 6-3, Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) bt Konstantinos Economidis (Gre) 6-4 7-6(7-2) 6-1, Vince Spadea (USA) bt Radek Stepanek (Cze) 2-6 2-6 7-5 6-2 6-3, Juan Martin del Potro (Arg) bt Santiago Ventura (Esp) 6-3 6-1 6-3, Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Werner Eschauer (Aut) 6-4 6-4 6-4, Marat Safin (Rus) bt Ernest Gulbis (Lat) 6-0 6-4 7-6(7-2), James Blake (USA) bt Nicolas Massu (Chi) 6-3 6-2 6-2, Fabrice Santoro (Fra) bt John Isner (USA) 6-2 6-2 6-4, Oscar Hernandez (Esp) bt Ivo Minar (Cze) 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 6-1, Juergen Melzer (Aut) bt Jiri Vanek (Cze) 6-3 6-4 6-4, Peter Luczak (Aus) bt Mariano Zabaleta (Arg) 6-1 6-7(7-2) 6-3 6-4, Juan Carlos Ferrero (Esp) bt Nicolas Kiefer (Ger) 6-4 6-3 6-1, Marin Cilic (Cro) bt Nicolas Almagro (Esp) 7-6(7-4) 7-5 6-2, Sam Querrey (USA) bt Olivier Rochus (Bel) 6-3 6-2 7-5, Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) bt Filippo Volandri (Ita) 7-6(7-3) 6-3 7-6(7-0), Denis Istomin (Uzb) bt Lukas Lacko (Svk) 6-3 6-7(7-1) 7-6(7-4) 6-1, Denis Gremelmayr (Ger) bt Sergio Roitman (Arg) 6-1 0-6 6-4 7-5, Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Steve Darcis (Bel) 6-0 6-3 6-0, David Ferrer (Esp) bt Edouard Roger-Vasselin (Fra) 6-2 6-2 6-1, Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) bt Thomas Johansson (Swe) 7-6(7-0) 6-2 3-6 6-3, Lee Hyung Taik (Kor) bt Chris Guccione (Aus) 7-6(8-6) 6-3 6-4, Janko Tipsarevic (Srb) bt Joseph Sirianni (Aus) 7-5 6-2 6-7(8-6) 0-6 6-0, Simone Bolelli (Ita) bt Rajeev Ram (USA) 7-6(7-5) 3-6 6-4 2-6 6-3, David Nalbandian (Arg) bt Robert Smeets (Aus) 6-1 6-1 7-6(7-3), Robin Haase (Ned) bt Ivan Ljubicic (Cro) 6-7(7-2) 6-3 6-0 7-6(7-1), Alun Jones (Aus) bt Albert Montanes (Esp) 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-2, Juan Monaco (Arg) bt Carlos Berlocq (Arg) 7-6(7-5) 7-5 6-1, Novak Djokovic (Srb) bt Benjamin Becker (Ger) 6-0 6-2 7-6(7-5), Amer Delic (USA) bt Robert Kendrick (USA) 6-4 7-5 6-2, Fernando Verdasco (Esp) bt Thierry Ascione (Fra) 6-4 6-0 6-3. ... more

The fracas happened during the first-round match involving last year's runner-up Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and Konstantinos Economidis, a Greek qualifier.

Gonzalez was leading 6-4, 1-2 when the match was stopped for around 10 minutes and the rowdy fans were removed from the stadium by police. Gonzalez eventually won 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-1.

Eyewitnesses said trouble started when police stepped in to deal with a group of around 40 fans, who had been singing loudly between points in the match.

Mirza's problem was a photograph taken at the Hopman Cup mixed team event in Perth at the beginning of the year. It appeared to show her bare feet resting near the national flag.

She is the subject of a court summons in Hyderabad after a private citizen made a complaint under the country's Prevention of Insult to the National Honour Act.

The maximum punishment for the offence is a three-year jail term.

The 21-year-old, who advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan, admitted she had considered quitting the sport over the row.

But she later said it was just a fleeting thought.

Thankfully, there was plenty of good tennis to keep the fans happy yesterday, with most of the seeds winning in authoritative fashion.

Third seed Novak Djokovic set the standard by swatting aside Benjamin Becker 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5). He then thrilled the crowd by giving an impression of glamour girl Maria Sharapova.

Bookmakers rate Djokovic, who lost to world No 1 Roger Federer in the US Open final in September, and Rafael Nadal as the top seed's most likely challengers.

'I'm trying not to think about the expectations,' said Djokovic.

'It's very flattering when people talk about me in a positive way, but it puts a lot of pressure on me.''

The local fans had something to cheer about when Australia's Lleyton Hewitt opened his latest bid to end the nation's 22-year wait for a men's champion by beating Steve Darcis 6-0, 6-3, 6-0.

Federer opened his defence with a similar message to those after his crown: a 6-0, 6-3, 6-0 demolition of Argentine Diego Hartfield.

The Swiss showed no effect of the stomach bug which forced him to pull out of last week's Kooyong Classic.

'I'm very happy to be back playing,' he said. 'I'm not sick very often, so it was a bit of a scare.'

He looked just a tad rusty in the first game, but soon found his form to rip winners and quash any suggestions that he might be vulnerable for an early upset.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS, REUTERS

Australian Open, 2nd round
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