"It was incredibly irritating" - Andy Murray on Australian Open crowd using Cristiano Ronaldo's 'Siuu' chant
Andy Murray was left irritated after a section of his fans at the Australian Open repeatedly used Cristiano Ronaldo's 'siiuu' chant to celebrate. Fans chanted 'siiuuu' after several points, which the tennis star initially mistook for boos.
Murray was facing 21st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili at the John Cain Arena in the first round of the Grand Slam when the incident took place. Towards the end of the game, some fans chanted 'siiuuu', and the British star was left irritated.
During his post-game interview, Murray labeled the chants 'painful', saying:
"Painful stuff there. Those guys, Initially, I thought it was [booing], because there were some people booing during my practice yesterday. I have no idea what for."
After he was explained that the fans were not booing him but were using Ronaldo's celebration, Murry added:
"Yeah, so originally that's what I thought it was. But then yeah 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. And, yeah, it was incredibly irritating (smiling). Yeah, I think that's what they were doing."
Murray won the game 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4 but is definitely not looking forward to the fans celebrating it with the 'siiuuu' chants.
Andy Murray on the Ronaldo-style "Siiuuu" noise during his win: "It was incredibly irritating" #AusOpen
🗣 Andy Murray on the crowd noises at the #AusOpen
"Initially, I thought it was booing, because there were some people booing at practice yesterday...
"But they were doing that "SIUU" thing that Ronaldo does when he scores..
"It was incredibly irritating."
😂😂😂 https://t.co/uDFbApXQeK
History of Cristiano Ronaldo's 'siiuuu' celebration
Cristiano Ronaldo first used 'siuuu' celebrations during a pre-season game against Chelsea in the United States. The Portuguese star was playing for Real Madrid at that point.
Speaking about the celebration a few months back, the Portuguese said:
"My 'Siiuuu' after every goal? It was born naturally, we were in the States, we played against Chelsea, I scored, I jumped & I shouted that "Siuuu", since then I have continued to do so because when I meet the fans, they repeat that chant."
'Siiuuu' has become a common chant among rival fans recently as the Manchester United star has failed to make a big impact at Old Trafford this season. Wolverhampton fans were spotted mocking the celebration last week, while other clubs have also done the same earlier this season.