The Olympics is not the first time Beijing has staged a major tennis event, but it seems Chinese spectators are yet to grasp the finer points of the game's etiquette.

Fans scramble to get an autograph from Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal yesterday. [Xinhua]

Fans can often be heard cheering at inappropriate times, such as in the middle of a rally or when a first serve hits the net, and many more seem to think it is fine to chat loudly on their mobile phones while a match is in progress.

But whether or not this ebullience is off-putting for the players is a matter of opinion.

"The crowd is quite enthusiastic, they love tennis. But sometimes they get overexcited and that's distracting," Serbian Jelena Jankovic said on Wednesday after making it to the quarterfinals of the women's singles.

"However, I think it's much better to have some kind of atmosphere. It's better than having quiet fans that don't even applaud," she said.

One anonymous fan thinks the players are too sensitive.

"I understand it is traditional to be quiet, but why should the players be spoiled and not have to deal with pressure from the crowd?" he told the Xinhua News Agency on Thursday at the Olympic Tennis Center.

The noise level is noticeably higher at games involving Chinese players, which can be upsetting, Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie said.

"The matches are really tough and I get great support from my fans. However, some of them are not familiar with the requirements of tennis games," she said on Tuesday after her second round match against Spaniard Nuria Llagostera Vives.

The popularity of tennis in China soared after the Athens Olympics in 2004, when Li Ting and Sun Tiantian won gold in the women's doubles competition.

Since then, the country has hosted several professional events including the China Open in Beijing and the Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Eiichi Kawatei, from the International Tennis Federation, said after the draw for the Beijing Olympic competition: "I saw the Fed Cup and some other matches in China this year, and people walked around and talked a lot during the matches.

"The fans didn't know much about tennis, so we need to work on that."

But not all the players are upset by the noise.

Former world No 1 Lleyton Hewitt said: "It was a good crowd. They made a good bit of noise but they were fair.

(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily August 16, 2008)