A new craze has taken over the Australian Open tennis tournament and it includes a sports crossover.
Tennis fans in the land below have begun shouting a chant that sounds similar to “bu,” one used in soccer. The crowd yells “Siuu!” during several matches in this year’s tournament. But what does this word mean? Why do tennis fans use a soccer chant?
There aren’t many answers as to why fans have decided to chant this word in unison, much to the confusion of professional tennis players, but here’s what we know so far.
What does “Siuuuu!” mean? to mean?
“Yeeee!” is a chant used by possibly the most famous soccer player in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Manchester United. The word translates to “Yes” in his native Portuguese, but Ronaldo spreads the word for dramatic effect. It’s the shout he uses when he scores a goal, along with his iconic jump. He started this tradition when he played for Real Madrid between 2009 and 2018.
“Yeeee!” has taken over the football world everywhere, with other professional players using the Ronaldo celebration, and now it seems to be crossing over into other sports.
Why do tennis fans yell “Siuuuu!” in the players?
It is not clear why the fans at the Australian Open decided to bring “Siuu!” to this year’s tournament. It is the first time that the chant is recorded in a tennis tournament.
So far, the chants have been used in at least two matches, including three well-known male tennis players. British player Andy Murray first heard the chants during his first-round victory on Tuesday. He wasn’t too thrilled by the chants, which he first took to be “boos.” He found that everything distracted him.
Additionally, Murray also endured the chants during one of his practice sessions.
The chants then rang out during a match with the best male player in this year’s tournament, Daniil Medvedev, as he played Australian Nick Kyrgios on Thursday. Similar to Murray’s reaction, Medvedev thought the crowd was booing him, which wouldn’t be the first time this had happened. During an on-court interview after the match, Jim Courier tried to explain to Medvedev what the crowd was doing.
Kyrgios fueled the crowd noise during his match. He claims that fans were doing this chant for “two and a half hours” between each point. He even referred to the crowd as a “zoo”. However, after his first round victory, Kyrgios made the iconic move of Ronaldo.