French Open boss calls for ‘respect’ after banning alcohol in stands
After former top 10 player David Goffin revealed that he was spat at with chewing gum, French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo has announced that extra security measures will come into place including banning the consumption of alcohol in stadiums.
Goffin came through a five set match against French wildcard Giovanni Mpetishi Perricard on Tuesday, but despite progressing to the second round the Belgian appeared frustrated with how he was treated on Court 14 at Roland Garros.
“Clearly, it goes too far, it’s total disrespect. It’s really too much,” said Goffin. “It’s becoming football, soon there will be smoke bombs, hooligans and there will be fights in the stands.
“It’s starting to become ridiculous. Some people are there more to cause trouble than to create an atmosphere. Someone spat out their chewing gum at me. It was getting complicated. That’s why I wanted to stay calm. If I started to get angry about it, it could have destabilised me.”
Goffin is not the only player to have commented on crowd behaviour at Roland Garros, with WTA world No.1 Iga Swiatek also addressing the fans on Court Philippe-Chatrier after some appeared to shout at during points.
Iga Świątek appeals to the French crowd, asking them to respect players focus by not making noise during the rallies.
Her ask was met with supportive applause. #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/8k8w6Ve4lL
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 29, 2024
And it appears that tournament director Mauresmo has reacted to these complaints, after confirming that spectators would now be banned from consuming alcohol in the stands.
“Alcohol was until now authorised in the stands. Now it’s over,” announced the Roland Garros boss of three years. “The umpires are really going to be even more strict to further respect the players and respect the game.
“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.
The two-time major winner added, “And definitely in terms of security, we’re going to try to see which people are maybe making [trouble]… because I think it’s a few individuals at some point that are overstepping. Security personnel will] try to calm them down or/or they go out. If they go too far, they go out.”
French Open chiefs have banned spectators from drinking alcohol in the stands at Roland Garros after a fan spat chewing gum at David Goffin. pic.twitter.com/K4CocyQdJH
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) May 30, 2024
Spectators at Roland Garros will still be able to consume alcohol around the grounds and between courts, but just not while sat in their seats.
In this statement, Mauresmo also confirmed that they had tried to discover the identity of the person who had spat at Goffin, but it has come to no avail so far.
Inside the baseline…
It is good to see that Amelie Mauresmo and Roland Garros as a whole are taking action, after some of the serious allegations made by David Goffin following his first round match. Whether this will actually have a big impact is yet to be seen, as fans can still consume alcohol before entering the courts. Hopefully this announcement does not rile some fans up to be more rebellious, with players likely to be more conscious of potential disruptions.
READ NEXT: Iga Swiatek calls out French crowd after ‘intense’ victory
Join >> Receive $700/£600 of tennis gear from the Tennishead CLUB
Social >> Facebook, Twitter & YouTube
Read >> World’s best tennis magazine
Shop >> Lowest price tennis gear from our trusted partner
