The competition was at the centre of debate as organisers introduced a ban on Russian flags at Melbourne Park after some were on display during matches.

One flag was visible in the crowd during the first-round match between Ukrainian Kateryna Baindl and Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia which prompted the ban.

"I would like the tennis world to support the Ukrainian athletes more, because I spend a lot of time with the Ukrainian athletes and I actually learned a lot about their situation as well," Tiley told ABC Radio.

"And the biggest thing is that no Ukrainian can go home.

"They've got no home to go to, so when they're travelling around the world to play tennis, they just have to go to the next city to play tennis.

"And the other athletes, we can all go home - so I think we've got to all be more conscious of that and I would like the tennis world and maybe other sports, every week where there is a Ukrainian athlete, that tournament should support that athlete financially all the way through until the next week.

"I think that would be a really great thing for sport to do and I would be encouraging our sport to do it - we did it for the three weeks they were here."

Although he wants to do more to help Ukrainians, Tiley is adamant that Russian athletes should not be ignored.

Tiley's comments come in the wake of the International Olympic Committee announcing it is looking for a pathway to reintroduce Russians and Belarusians to sporting competitions despite recommending a complete ban on them last year.

"We don't support banning Russian athletes, they competed as individual competitors, but we do support them not being able to compete as part of a Russian team," Tiley continued.

"We need to be conscious that the Russian players are also struggling with this situation, they just happen to be from that country."