Argentina and Brazil are bitter sporting rivals and you would expect there be some animosity amongst fans were they playing one another at football, writes Douglas Imrie.

But not so much at the tennis and certainly not if Brazil aren’t even competing.

But that was the case last night, when Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) took on Joao Sousa (Portugal) in the second round the men’s singles event in Rio.

Video from PePi Tv.

The violent scenes took place early in the match with Sousa said to be receiving the majority of local support, to which the Argentinian fan took exception.

There have been some fight during Del Potro vs Sousa in #Rio pic.twitter.com/4rqMy41xOO

— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) August 9, 2016

The match was paused briefly while the two men had to be split up by military police.

Please respect the players said Chair Umpire. Boos and shouting...mess #Rio2016 #DelPotro #Sousa pic.twitter.com/y9XkxaVtJ9

— OurNumberOneRF (@Mikno78) August 8, 2016

Del Potro emerged victorious and said after the match, “I hope that these types of incidents don’t happen again because people come here to watch tennis. This isn’t football.”