Australian Open 2022 - The day Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘siuu’ left Andy Murray and Nick Kyrgios bemused
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Updated 18/01/2022 at 16:00 GMT
The ‘siuu’ noise made famous by Cristiano Ronaldo made its way to the Australian Open on Tuesday. Andy Murray said it was “painful”, while Nick Kyrgios looked bemused after the constant calls from the John Cain Arena crowd. He did, eventually, see the funny side when mimicking the Man Utd forward’s celebration after beating Liam Broady.
Kyrgios copies Ronaldo celebration after beating Britain's Broady
Andy Murray called it “painful” and “incredibly irritating”, and even Nick Kyrgios could barely believe the “stupid” noise he was hearing.
Yes. This was the day the Cristiano Ronaldo ‘siuu’ celebration made its way into a Grand Slam tennis tournament, and many will hope it’s the last.
The regular soundtrack to Murray’s match with Nikoloz Basilashvili was cries of “siuu” from a few members of the crowd, a noise made popular by Ronaldo and echoed by his army of followers.
Following his four-hour epic, Murray was explaining how he would love to go far at this year’s Australian Open.
“I would love to have a deep run here if possible,” he said, and during a pause someone in the crowd then let out another “siuu”.
Murray then added: “That’s painful stuff there. Those guys…”
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In his press conference, Murray acknowledged that it took some time to realise he was not being jeered.
He said: “Initially, I thought it was, because there were some people booing during my practice yesterday. I have no idea what for. Yeah, so originally that's what I thought it was.
“But then after a few times it was like, no, they're doing that, I think it's like ‘Siuu’ or something that Ronaldo does when he scores.”
He added, with a smile: “And, yeah, it was incredibly irritating.”
It was then Kyrgios’ turn to take to a court he simply adores, with the Australian openly admitting he would prefer to play his matches there over the Rod Laver or Margaret Court Arena.
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Kyrgios was seen smiling and shaking his head with the constant “siuus”, especially when he would serve an ace, which he did on 21 occasions when beating Briton Liam Broady in straight sets.
On one occasion Kyrgios even addressed the noise with a “f****** every point… siuu siuu siuu”, but he seemed to enjoy it, and at the end of his match he mimicked the Ronaldo celebration to the delight of the supporters watching on – all before he took a little sip of beer when prompted.
In his press conference afterwards, Kyrgios twice had to clarify to a reporter that he was not getting booed.
He said: “No, they actually weren't saying ‘boo’, it's just a stupid, f***, I can't believe they did it so much. They were doing some Ronaldo thing. Ronaldo does it every time he scores. I thought they were going to do it for like 10 minutes. They did it for two-and-a-half hours, like every point. I don't know why, but I don't know. It was a zoo out there.”
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Highlights: Nick Kyrgios showboats his way to win over Liam Broady
On the carnival atmosphere Kyrgios helps orchestrate, he added: "I think that's something I have kind of created on that court. They know what to expect.
“I think from the get-go, I know I've got the crowd in the palm of my hand, and any time I can use that to, you know, spark a moment or spark some energy. You know, obviously Liam is a great player but his experience on that court in that situation, when the crowd is going nuts, he has never experienced that before, hence the reason why on breakpoints I'm trying to get the crowd up, get him to feel the pressure a little bit more.
“I think that's the excitement of the people. You know, they haven't seen much sport, haven't been able to do much the last couple years. So the fact that they're out, you know, able to see some of the best players in the world come out, they're just excited to do things again. I could definitely feel they were just really ready to just, you know, get behind someone or something.”
Broady did not entirely enjoy his experience out on the John Cain Arena, and though he was seen laughing when a member of the crowd asked him to copy Kyrgios and do an underarm serve, overall the Brit said it was “awful”.
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Kyrgios and Broady burst out laughing after Brit takes underarm serve request
“I mean, everyone is telling me, like, ‘Oh you'll really enjoy it. It's going to be amazing.’ But I thought it was absolutely awful. I obviously wanted to go out there and win, so, I mean, losing matches in general isn't enjoyable.
“The atmosphere was incredible, but it was the first time I've ever walked onto a tennis court and been booed, which was, which for me was a crazy experience.
“You get sledged from the sides like you can't believe that they don't pick up on TV. So it was a very, very difficult atmosphere to try and handle, and like I said, he's incredible at getting them behind him and he plays better for it.”
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