Crowd trouble has again marred the Australian Open, with police using pepper spray to control rowdy fans as three people were ejected from Melbourne Park.

Twelve months after Croatian and Serbian fans kicked each other and used flag poles as weapons in an ugly start to the 2007 tournament, police said they were forced to use pepper spray to quell unruly fans during Tuesday night's match between Chile's Fernando Gonzalez and Greek player Konstantinos Economidis in Margaret Court Arena.

About two dozen Greek, Cypriot and Serbian fans were involved, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

Police said they ejected three spectators, who have been interviewed over allegations of assaulting police, failing to obey lawful direction and using indecent language.

The match had to be stopped for more than five minutes and Economidis said he was saddened by the incident.

"It was strange. It's never happened to me before," Economidis said after losing 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 to 2007 Australian Open finalist Gonzalez.

"I don't know exactly what caused it or what happened out there. I was focused on my match and I am really sad that this has taken place on a tennis court.

"It's really something that nobody wants. It was a great atmosphere except for this certain point of the match that this incident happened.

"It was full of people who were cheering and looked like they were enjoying the tennis and it was a really nice atmosphere.

"I am really unhappy about what happened."

Police said they were forced to use pepper spray after a group of spectators became aggressive as officers attempted to eject one man over repeated offensive chanting.

Police said the officers involved feared for their safety.

Victoria Police Superintendent John Cooke said he was pleased the officers were able to diffuse what he called "a hostile situation".

"Our members have acted with restraint and professionally in a very difficult situation. They have our full support and have managed to diffuse a hostile situation without any injuries," Supt Cooke said.

Australian Open director Craig Tiley last week announced a crackdown on violence and anti-social behaviour in the wake of about 150 fans being ejected from the venue on the opening day of last year's tournament.

On that occasion, Serbian and Croatian fans, wearing the national colours of the bitter Balkan rivals, clashed using flagpoles, bottles and boots, prompting Tiley to impose a "zero-tolerance" policy on at this year's Open.

"At any time, any behaviour that's going to harm the fan-friendly environment, then we're going to have zero tolerance for it," Tiley said.

"We're confident that the procedures that the Victoria Police put in place are going to deal with any of the issues that come up.

"We're also confident that we'll send a very clear message on any type of behaviour that crosses the line, impacting on a fan-friendly environment, will be dealt with."

Gonzalez said he had never seen police use pepper spray before at a tennis tournament.

"No, that's the first time," he said.

But the Chilean said while the crowd was noisy and one Greek fan was abusive to him in Spanish, he was not overly insulted by anything said.

"They say a few things, but it's part of the crowd," Gonzalez said.

"Only one (offensive) thing (was said) in Spanish, but it's nothing that bad. I mean, they're fans ... it was very noisy, but also was the Chileans."

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