Australian tennis fans keep loudly imitating Cristiano Ronaldo, causing confusion, annoying players, and making them think they're being booed

• Crowds at the Australian Open keep loudly imitating Cristiano Ronaldo's famous "Siuuuu" celebration.
• Three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray described it as "painful" and "incredibly irritating."

Rowdy crowds imitating one of the greatest soccer players in history are causing problems at the Australian Open, with players divided on whether it is funny or just plain annoying.

Fans in Melbourne have been regularly heard shouting Cristiano Ronaldo's famous goal celebration "SIUUU" from the stands in the first few days of the tournament.

Manchester United forward Ronaldo often jumps in the air and makes the sound, a derivation of the Spanish word "si," as he lands after scoring a goal.

The imitations, however, have split opinion among players at the tournament.

Andy Murray, who beat Nikoloz Basilashvili in a five-set thriller on Tuesday to advance to the second round, is one of the players finding the noises tiresome.

"That's painful stuff there, those guys," Murray said during his on-court interview, breaking off from an answer as he kept being interrupted by the chants.

He later told reporters: "Initially, I thought it was [jeering], because there were some people booing during my practice yesterday. I have no idea what for, 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 "SIUUU" or something that Ronaldo does when he scores. And, yeah, it was incredibly irritating."

Murray's countryman Liam Broady also thought he was being jeered ahead of his first round defeat to Australian Nick Kyrgios on Tuesday.

"It was absolutely awful," he said. "It's the first time I've ever walked onto a tennis court and been booed, which for me was a crazy experience.

"You know, you get sledging from the sides and you can't believe they don't pick up on TV, so it was a very difficult atmosphere to try and handle."

Unlike Broady, Kyrgios was aware that the noises weren't boos and instead fans imitating Ronaldo.

The homegrown favorite thrived in the raucous atmosphere at Melbourne Park and after his victory, did a Ronaldo impression of his own, much to the delight of the fans.

—ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) January 18, 2022

"I wasn't getting booed. That's not getting booed," Kyrgios said in his post-match interview. "They actually weren't saying 'boo'.

"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 [but] they did it for two-and-a-half hours, like every point. I don't know why.

"It was a zoo out there."

Germany's Alexander Zverev was also subjected to the Ronaldo treatment Tuesday, saying in a post-match interview after beating Australian Dylan Alcott that he "could really feel that you guys have been in lockdown for two years," at which point a chorus of "siuuuuu" rang out in the stadium.

Soon afterwards, asked what it felt like playing an Australian in Australia, Zverev said: "Hopefully I'll get a lot of boos, hopefully everybody will cheer against me."

A large portion of the crowd then started jokily booing the German world number three, at which point he smiled before being given a loud round of cheers and applause.