AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Venue: Melbourne Park Date: 19 January-1 February
Coverage: BBC Red Button, BBC One & Two (including all Andy Murray matches), Radio 5 Live sports extra, BBC Sport website (Red Button coverage streamed on website throughout fortnight)

Amer Delic has pleaded with fans for calm

Amer Delic has asked his Bosnian fans not to disrupt his Australian Open third-round clash with Serbian defending champion Novak Djokovic.

Bosnian-born Delic, who is an American citizen, came from two sets down to beat Paul-Henri Mathieu in round two.

Security were called when Serbian fans entered the arena at the end of a Serbian player's match on another court and fans began taunting one another.

"We don't need to embarrass ourselves in front of the world," he said.

It was the second match in a row that Delic had won in five sets and the second where the behaviour of his Bosnian fans has been criticised, Mathieu even going so far as to say they were shaming the sport.

"They were chanting back and forth across the court and I couldn't control that," said Delic afterwards.

"I felt bad for Paul and I apologised to him right after it happened but it's tough - obviously I like those fans, they're getting me through those matches.

"It was bad when the other side came across - I'm just hoping with Novak that it doesn't turn into World War III.

"I'm going to try and tell my fans that we don't need to be embarrassing ourselves in front of the world and I hope Novak says something to the Serbian fans also.

"You know, leave the politics aside. It's not my fault and it's not Novak's fault."

Violence erupted on the opening day of the 2007 tournament when Serbian and Croatian fans, wearing the national colours of the bitter Balkan rivals, attacked each other with flagpoles, bottles and boots.

And last year police were forced to use pepper spray on a group of Greek supporters.

A match between Fernando Gonzalez and Greece's Konstantinos Economidis was halted for 10 minutes as police stepped in to stop "offensive chanting".

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