Tennis Australia on Tuesday banned Russian and Belarusian flags at the Australian Open after Ukraines ambassador demanded action when they were seen among the crowd.Moscow called the restriction an inappropriate politicization of sports.

The red, white and blue stripes of Russia were held up by fans during Mondays first-round clash between Ukraines Kateryna Baindl and Russias Kamilla Rakhimova on day one.Ukrainian fans supposedly called security and cops to the stands.A Russian flag was also unfurled on Rod Laver Arena throughout Daniil Medvedevs clash with American Marcos Giron.

Flags from Russia and Belarus are prohibited onsite at the Australian Open, Tennis Australia said in a statement.

Our initial policy was that fans might bring them in however might not utilize them to cause disturbance.

Yesterday, we had an event where a flag was placed courtside.

The restriction works right away.

We will continue to deal with the players and our fans to ensure the very best possible environment to take pleasure in the tennis.

Since Russias intrusion of Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian gamers have actually generally competed under a neutral white flag as independents, as holds true at the Australian Open.Ukraines ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, had late Monday called on Tennis Australia to act.

I strongly condemn the public display screen of the Russian flag throughout the game of the Ukrainian tennis gamer Kateryna Baindl at the Australian Open, he tweeted.

I contact Tennis Australia to immediately enforce its neutral flag policy.

The diplomat recently advised the Australian Open to ban Russian and Belarusian gamers completely, the latter due to Belaruss support of Vladimir Putin.Wimbledon went down that path in 2015, disallowing gamers from both nations, causing the tournament being stripped of its ranking points by the ATP and WTA.Prior to the flag restriction, previous Australian ambassador to Ukraine, Doug Trappett, who served in the function from 2015 to 2016, slammed Australian Open organizers.Writing on Twitter, he called it embarrassing.

You could have prohibited Russian gamers and positioned yourself to offer a robust response to such foreseeable events but you chose spinelessness, he tweeted.Russias Embassy in Australia countered at the restriction, calling it another example of undesirable politicization of sports.

On top of currently discriminating against Russian tennis gamers with its neutral flag policy, Tennis Australia now went even more by making certain they can not be visibly supported by their fans, it stated in a declaration.

It is undoubtedly regrettable to see the tournament organizers succumb to obvious and rather conceited political adjustment sacrificing the spirit of reasonable play when fundamental to the Australian Open.

Baindl won her match 7-5, 6-7, (8/10), 6-1 and will deal with American Caty McNally in the 2nd round.Ukrainian-Australian fan Maria Tumarkin told the Melbourne Age newspaper she was the one who called security, claiming Russian fans were heckling Baindl.

This is exceptionally risky, the war is ongoing, she stated.

Its a small court, the men were exceptionally close to the players, so there was an element of what I felt was intimidation.

Belarusian world number five Aryna Sabalenka said she had no objection to the flag ban if everybody feels better this way.

But she likewise believes that sport is nothing to do with politics.

I have zero control on it.

What can I say? They did it, alright, no flags, included Sabalenka, amongst the gamers affected by the Wimbledon restriction last year.Asked if she might understand how some Ukrainian fans might be upset by seeing Russian or Belarusian flags, she replied: Im pretty sure they (are) upset about that, and, if Tennis Australia made this decision to make them feel better, okay.