On Friday night Djokovic said the activists, some of whom held flags depicting Putin, had “misused” his father and that there was “no intention” to be associated with their demonstration.

“It was unfortunate that the misinterpretation of what happened has escalated to such a high level,” Djokovic said after his semi-final win over Tommy Paul.

“It has got to me, of course, as well. I was not aware of it until [Thursday] night. Then, of course, I was not pleased to see that.”

Tiley said the Open had more than 1000 accredited journalists and growing TV audiences particularly in China and the US.

“It does become a platform and that’s new for us. It never used to be like that.”

Russian flags and other items bearing Russian or Belarusian insignia are banned at Melbourne Park following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The invasion has gone on for almost 12 months and thousands of civilians have been killed, according to the United Nations.

“We took a position early as it related to Russia and we wanted to protect and didn’t want to disrupt the Ukrainian players in the management of that,” Tiley said.

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