Australian Open 2022: Boo or 'Siuuu'? Crowds adopt Ronaldo's celebration; leave players irritated, confused

Tennis fans witnessing the Australian Open 2022 at Melbourne Park have now become the talk of the town after repeatedly enacting a celebratory cry made famous by legendary footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. Crowds have sparked confusion and a degree of annoyance among tennis stars, with shouts of 'siuuu' heard from the stands at the first Grand Slam of the year.

The cheer, which fans chant in an elongated deep tone, causing it to sound a lot like boo, has been omnipresent since the start of play at Melbourne Park on January 17, leaving a host of players uncertain about their popularity. Daniil Medvedev on Thursday joined other tennis stars among those left confused.

The Russian registered a win against Australia's very own Nick Kyrgios 7-6(1) 6-4 4-6 6-2 to reach the third round of the Australian Open for the fourth consecutive time. In the post-match interview with legendary Jim Courier, Medvedev appeared reasonably annoyed with the crowds' chants of 'siuuu', which the 2nd seeded player mistook for a boo. In an attempt to silence the crowd, Medvedev, who was finding it hard to hear the American's questions said, "Guys, I can't hear him. Show some respect for Jim Courier. Let him speak, guys. If you respect somebody, at least respect Jim Courier."

Jim Courier was quick to clear the air and said, "What they are saying is 'siuuu', which they say when Ronaldo scores a goal. I think that's what's going on. I don't think they are booing you. I hope I am right on that one."

One may recall, at last month's David Cup final in Madrid, Medvedev pulled off a Cristiano Ronaldo celebration after beating Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff, which did not go well with the crowds as he received boos while giving an on-court interview. Clarifying his stance later, the Russian had said, "When Cristiano played in Madrid, he was doing this celebration a lot of times. That's why I decided to do it. I felt it was fun. Probably it was the wrong decision, which can happen. I had to go with it and to stick with it because I like to stick to what I do."

Daniil Medvedev is, however, not the first tennis player to be trapped in a state of confusion at the Grand Slam tournament this year. Britain's Andy Murray was the first tennis star to receive the Melbourne Park crowds'  siuuu' chants during his epic five-set first-round win over Nikoloz Basilashvili. What started as cheers from a small section of the crowd, soon spread across the stands in the nearly four-hour-long clash.

While addressing a press conference, Murray said he had been confused after hearing similar noise during his practice sessions. The Scot added, "I think it's like 'siuuu' or something that Ronaldo does when he scores. And, yeah, it was incredibly irritating. I think that's what they were doing."

'Siuuu' was heard again during home favourite Nick Kyrgios' straight-set win over Liam Broady, who said that he found the experience at John Cain Arena' absolutely awful'. The British player believed that the Australian crowd was booing him from the very beginning of the clash. 

Meanwhile, during Krygios' on-court interview following the win, he too was greeted by a chorus of 'siuuu', forcing him to address the crowd directly. "I don't know what I've done to this crowd because you guys are a zoo now. You guys are out of control. I'm just happy to be in front of you guys again. Honestly, it's so much fun," the Australian remarked. In response, more chants of 'siuuu' were heard from different parts of the stand.

'Siuuu' has been made famous by Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who started using the cry along with his trademark goal celebration during his time at Real Madrid. The Portugal international's goal celebration sees him perform a mid-air pirouette before exclaiming "si!" (sometimes spelt "siu") - which is Spanish for "yes!" - upon landing. After the striker jumps and lands, crowds usually join Ronaldo in roaring the word, producing a booming sound that reverberates throughout any stadium. Ronaldo also famously screamed 'siuuu' after collecting the 2014 Ballon d'Or trophy ahead of arch-rival Lionel Messi.

Talking about the origin of the 'siuuu' celebration, Ronaldo once said in an interview, "I started to say 'si', it's like 'yes' when I was in Real Madrid. When we won, everyone would say 'siiiii', so I started to say it. I don't know why; it was natural."

• Australian Open
• Australian Open 2022
• Cristiano Ronaldo