The decision comes after Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia "strongly condemn[ed]" the Russian flag being displayed in the stands at the Grand Slam, as reported by CNN.

Tennis Australia wrote in its statement: "Flags from Russia and Belarus are banned onsite at the Australian Open.

"Our initial policy was that fans could bring them in but could not use them to cause disruption.

"Yesterday we had an incident where a flag was placed courtside.

"The ban is effective immediately.

"We will continue to work with the players and our fans to ensure the best possible environment to enjoy the tennis."

The flag was seen during the first-round match between Ukraine’s Kateryna Baindl and Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova in Melbourne Park.

It is unclear who was responsible for displaying the flag during the match.

An agency photo also showed the Russian flag on display in the stands during the first-round match between Daniil Medvedev and Marcos Giron of the United States.

Baindl went on to win the match 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 and will face American Caty McNally in the second-round.

Meanwhile after her first-round victory at the Australian Open, Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk said she will not shake hands with rivals from Russia and Belarus, whom she feels have not done enough to speak out against the invasion.

In his Twitter post on Monday Ukraine ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko, who added a photo of the flag on display, wrote: "I strongly condemn the public display of the Russian flag during the game of the Ukrainian tennis player Kateryna Baindl at the Australian Open today.

"I call on Tennis Australia to immediately enforce its ‘neutral flag’ policy."

While many International Federations have followed the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee in March and banned competitors from Russia and Belarus following the invasion of Ukraine, tennis authorities have ruled that players from the two countries may play as neutrals, and the Australian Open permits them to compete "without flags or country recognition."

The ruling to allow Russian and Belarusian players to compete as neutrals has not been accepted by organisers of the Wimbledon Championships, with an All England Club spokesman saying it did not want Russia to use Wimbledon as a "propaganda machine."

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tours, the governing bodies of men’s and women’s tennis, stripped Wimbledon of ranking points in the face of what they deemed "discrimination" towards Russian and Belarusian players.