Spectators at the French Open have been banned from drinking alcohol in the stands at Roland Garros after a series of complaints about fans’ behaviour.
Belgian star David Goffin said a fan spat chewing gun at him after he beat home favourite Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, and world number ones Iga Świątek and Novak Djokovic called out people in the crowd for shouting during points.
Whether it is due to a number of rain delays leaving would-be crowd members with no tennis to watch or simply players being more willing to speak out, organisers have announced spectators will not be allowed to drink in their seats anymore.
“Alcohol was until now authorised in the stands. Now it’s over,” tournament director and two-time major winner Amelie Mauresmo said.
“We are happy people are very enthusiastic about watching tennis and being part of the matches, showing and feeling emotions, but there are definitely steps which shouldn’t go further.
“A few things have needed to be put in place.”
Goffin said he had received support from other players after talking about the fans’ behaviour.
“I was surprised that everybody was like ‘What you said is great’,” Goffin said after being knocked out by fourth seed Alexander Zverev.
“It has changed and especially the last few years, I don’t know if it was after the COVID or not, it’s a different kind of support here. More excitement, a little bit aggressive. People come to have fun. That’s for sure. Sometimes they just go for too much.
“Hopefully it’s good what Amelie did because if they continue like that, you never know … if they’re going to come with firecrackers.”
Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev, speaking after second-round opponent Miomir Kecmanović retired with injury in the second set of their match, said the difficulty of playing French players in front of their home fans was similar to facing a hometown favourite at the Australian Open.
“Playing French [players] in Roland Garros is not easy, that’s for sure. A lot of players experience it,” he said.
“I would say that in US Open and Wimbledon is not the same. Australia can be tough. I played Thanasi [Kokkinakis] once there [in 2018] on the small court. It was brutal.”
Mauresmo said authorities were still trying to identify the person who spat gum at Goffin and that security had been tightened, with umpires told to take control of unruly crowd behaviour.
“The umpires are really going to be even more strict to further respect … the players and respect the game,” she said.
“This is something that we’re not going to tolerate, to overstep these two things. That’s for sure. So umpires have quite an important role in this matter.”
It did little to calm the crowd for Djokovic’s straight-sets win over Spain’s Roberto Carballés Baena, with the Serb left unhappy by rowdy fans at Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Djokovic was leading 5-4 in a tough first set when he complained to chair umpire Nico Helwerth that a man in the front row had called out while he was chasing down a drop-shot.
In typical fashion, that only prompted a chorus of jeers from the crowd who loved baiting the champ in his first-round win over French wildcard Pierre Hugues-Herbert.
Djokovic just smiled, ended up playing a striking game to break for the first set and, from there, was quite masterful as he outplayed the world number 63, rattling off 13 of the next 16 games.
“He shouted actually a few words during the rally,” the 37-year-old said.
“He was there in the first row, and he started from the beginning of the match.
“He went on several times, which was fine, supporting my opponent, but I thought that this was a bit of a hindrance as he was so close and then, as I was about to hit the ball, he was shouting.
“So that’s what I asked the chair umpire, but he explained that he cannot call that a hindrance.
“Look, they are very passionate fans. At times they are not easy and I have been having some love affairs with the fans here. I have experienced both sides.”
Aiming for a record-breaking 25th grand slam title and fourth in Paris, the second-round win was perhaps Djokovic’s best performance of the claycourt swing, taking his win-loss record across four tournaments to 8-3.
In unfamiliar territory, still hunting his first title of 2024 at the start of the second major of the year, Djokovic said he still believed he could win a major but was aware he was down on his best.
“I don’t want to get too much ahead of the present day because I haven’t had great form in the lead-up to Roland Garros,” he said.
“I have to keep my expectations a bit lower — of course hopes and beliefs and convictions are always high.
“But I’m being very conscious of the present moment and what needs to be done on a daily basis to build my form as the tournament progresses and then peak at the right time, when it matters the most.”
Elsewhere, Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka and fourth seed Elena Rybakina continued their impressive form with cruisy wins over Moyuka Uchijima and Arantxa Rus.
Neither player has played a match longer than 73 minutes, while top seed and defending champion Świątek was on court for almost three hours as she beat four-time major winner Naomi Osaka on day four.
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