We are nearly into the second week of Roland Garros, and have been treated to a festival of entertainment and upsets already.
After all, with blistering heat completely unsettling the draw, the men’s side in particular has been ravaged. We are now guaranteed a new Grand Slam champion on the ATP Tour, with Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic both losing early.
Meanwhile, on the women’s side, the bulk of the top players remain present, fighting for what could be one of the most fiercely contested majors in recent memory.
However, they have faced a different, more unique challenge which has already injured one player and threatened to injure another.
Finally, after plenty of player complaints, Roland Garros has responded.
Roland Garros promises change after player complaints
Zeynep Sonmez lost in the first round of the singles draw, but fortunately, still had the ladies’ doubles to look forward to. Her time in the French capital was not done yet.
However, the Turkish youngster will have been wishing she never bothered, having been forced to retire early in the first set due to an injury sustained through no fault of her own.
As she chased a lob, she neared the back of the court before giving up on the shot. Unsurprisingly unaware of what was at her feet, Sonmez tripped on a Lacoste advertising block, sending her crashing into the back wall.
Roland Garros has seen plenty of backlash from fans and players alike since then, and began their statement by acknowledging these complaints.
They then wrote: “The stadium complex was modernised during the 2018/2019 season. All Roland-Garros courts currently exceed the international circuit
minimum requirements regarding the distance between the baseline and the back of the court, which is set at 6.4 metres.
“However, the tournament’s priority remains the well- being of the players taking part. With this in mind, and based on our own observations, adjustments are currently being made to the area around the playing surface.”
Zeynep Sonmez reacts after getting injured because of advertising board
Sonmez has since come out on social media to outline her frustration with this situation.
She wrote, in response to Katie Boulter’s similar complaint after fortunately narrowly avoiding injury: “Five incidents in five days. I left the court with two stitches and a bruised knee. Hopefully it wasn’t worse. Do we really have to wait until the player is seriously injured before these court-side boards are removed? Player safety must come first.”
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Speaking on his Served with Andy Roddick podcast, Andy Roddick added: “To be clear, the boxes serve no purpose.
“Someone who was p——- the other day about the tarps in the back. Blockx. Blockx got hurt. That’s unfortunate.
“But also the tarps serve a purpose, right? As soon as it starts raining, if it starts pouring, you don’t want mud. You have to have the tarps ready to put them over the court.
“It actually serves a purpose for court conditions. If it pours, and you have to go get tarps from inside of a stadium and bring them out, like, you lose an hour or two of court, that the moisture’s trapped.
“These boxes, that the umpires put their little feet in, they don’t do anything. It’s purely for advertising. Purely.
“So the question becomes, does that take precedent over player health? You’ve had two women- Boulter almost got hurt, and Sonmez has apparently gotten hurt by it also.
They serve no purpose. You can’t make an argument for it.
“These little boxes are just a hazard, really.”
