Crowd mock intense grunting of Ash Barty's opponent as social media melts down

Ashleigh Barty might have made it to the second round of the Australian Open, but it was her opponent, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who caused the stir.

The Belarusian's screams throughout the match in prime time, with plenty of people watching, caused uproar in the tennis world, reopening the game's most controversial debate: legislating against players noise on court.

Known for her powerful game which is matched by her powerful vocal chords, Sabalenka was on the receiving end of a torrent of criticism from commentators and punters alike.

Even Barty herself whispered to her box early in the match "she's so loud."

After the match, Barty did express surprise at the volume directed at her during play.

"I knew it was coming but it was a bit louder than I thought," Barty said.

“I think if something that small can irritate you that’s a bigger issue in itself.

“I knew it was coming, I was prepared for it. I mean obviously in the first couple of games you get used to it because everyone has a bit of a different grunt, but you get used to it and then we’re all good.”

During the second set, the crowd took it a step further than often seen by jeering the player on the court with screams of their own.

They were told by the umpire to stop making noise during the point, but that only spurred them on to heap it on the Belarusian. 

In a rare step, current player Tennys Sandgren took to Twitter to chastise the world No.66.

"I don't know how many times this girl has grunted into Barty's swing, but man it's really getting to me. It's clearly affecting her play," he wrote.

He wasn't alone either, with plenty of people boarding the 'silence is golden' train.

Former Australian player Todd Woodbridge agreed, saying "Nice player #Sabalenka but something needs to be done about her noise and grunting on court!!!!"

Not all were following the anti-grunt crusade, however, with the Belarusian finding some support from the bleachers.