Roland Garros is slowly gaining momentum. The first round matches, which were marked by several scandals, ended. The most notable of them is the Frenchman Terence Atman, who avoided disqualification for hitting a spectator with the ball.
Atman met the fan not by accident, but after a nervous breakdown due to a lost point. Terence could well have been suspended, as his opponent Sebastian Ofner demanded, but the judges forgave him. Unfortunately, there were times when the French public itself was negative.
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They spit gum at David Goffin
French fans are especially active at local players’ matches, which is not surprising. It’s true that sometimes fans go beyond all limits of decency. This was the case in the match between the Belgian David Goffin and Giovanni Mpetchi Perrikar (4:6, 6:4, 6:3, 6:7, 6:3).
In five sets, Goffin gave the finishing touch to the native of Lyon, Perricard, who, a couple of days before the start of Roland Garros, won the ATP-250 tournament in his hometown. Giovanni, 22, won his first title at the highest level and rose to 66th place in the world ranking, jumping 51 positions. The French hoped that the banquet would continue in Paris, but it did not work. Perhaps Giovanni expended too much emotional and physical energy in Lyon, where he broke the difficult Argentine Thomas Martin Etcheverry in the third-set tiebreaker at the cost of heroic efforts.
David Goffin
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Perrikar played very inconsistently. Even if not without a fight, he lost to Goffin. The spectators in the stands were painfully aware of Giovanni’s every mistake, and often took out his anger on his opponent. David did not remain silent after the game.
“When you get insulted for 3.5 hours, it means the public doesn’t like you in some way. But things have gone too far. This is a complete lack of respect. Some people are designed to create a disaster, not the other way around. The current environment demonstrates it. Someone spit gum at me. I think this only happens in France. This is not the case at Wimbledon. In Australia too. The US Open in New York is pretty quiet,” Goffin said.
David Goffin, 33, is currently ranked 115th in the ATP rankings, but he is a fairly eminent tennis player. David was the seventh racket in the world, reached the quarterfinals of Grand Slam tournaments four times and was a finalist in the 2017 Finals. He found it unpleasant to endure insults directed at himself, but for the French public it is the norm. Something similar happened to American Taylor Fritz last year. He then defeated Arthur Rinderknech. The American was heavily booed throughout the match and was prevented from playing normally. After a match point in the fourth set, Taylor gestured for the crowd to calm down, but that didn’t help. He was booed even more during his on-court interview.
“I’m so sorry I can’t hear you. To be honest, the audience was so “cool” that it really turned me on. They supported me so much that there was no other option but to win today’s match,” Fritz said in a conversation with former French tennis player Marion Bartoli.
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Nicholas Harry was booed and booed during his match with Corentin Moutet
One of the main sensations of the first round of the men’s draw at Roland Garros, the Chilean Nicholas Harry lost to the 79th racket in the world against the Frenchman Corentin Moutet (2:6, 1:6, 6:3, 0:6) . Harry lost to Alexander Zverev in the final of the Rome Masters just over a week ago. Apparently, the number 19 in the ATP ranking did not recover from that failure, mainly emotionally. To some extent, Harry was also annoyed by the crazy French fans.
nicolas harry
Photo: Dan Istitene/Getty Images
Nicolas was booed with merciless force, even by the standards of the Parisian audience. It’s about a certain backstory. In early March, Moutet sensationally beat Harry in the quarterfinals of a clay tournament in Santiago. Then Corentin himself was a victim of the inappropriate behavior of the Chilean fans. Not only did they boo him, but they also prevented the Frenchman from speaking normally during the post-match interview.
Moutet is a shocking and scandalous person. In almost all of his games there are some incidents. For example, recently in Rome, Corentin answered a phone call while playing with Novak Djokovic. He sometimes lashes out at the judges and says bad words. French coach Petar Popovic is not much different from his pupil. This is the appeal he made to the public before the Moutet-Harry match at Roland Garros.
“The fans in Santiago behaved like a herd of animals. The worst behavior you can see in a tennis match. It was like football. Corentin was insulted non-stop. They argued between plays and whistled when he was about to serve. When Corentin went to the bathroom after the first set, some fans even threatened him. Then I had to threaten them and they changed their tune. Really unpleasant atmosphere, but essentially there were only two or three security officers around us, about 65 years old…
Harry was indifferent and failed to challenge the behavior of his home fans. He also called Corentin “pathetic.” I hope the Parisians give Harry a taste of his own medicine. Overall, Harry finishes on Sunday! He signed his own death warrant. “There will be hell in Paris to the point that Harry will be tired of tennis for at least a few weeks,” Popovich said.
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The public heard Popovich’s calls. Harry was not only booed, but also laughed out loud after every mistake he made. In one of the episodes, Nicholas tried to avoid a strong collision with a ball boy and fell. The audience’s reaction was mocking laughter. Here it is appropriate to criticize not only the fans, but also the Moutet team, which deliberately incited the conflict and called on the hooligans in the stands to take active action. Yes, they were not treated well in Chile before, but this cannot serve as an excuse.
Nicholas Harry fell while trying to avoid a ball boy
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
Daniil Medvedev started Roland Garros with criticism from fans – so far light
The fifth racket in the world, Daniil Medvedev, often clashes with fans in different cities. The Russian also has questions for the Paris public. Medvedev criticized the public after defeating the German Dominik Köpfer in the first round (6:3, 6:4, 5:7, 6:3). The fans shouted the name not only of the participants in the match, but also of the French coach Gilles Simon, who had previously been a fairly successful player on the ATP circuit and now works on the Russian’s team.
“The audience often shouted ‘Daniel’ or ‘Dominique’, but the loudest chant was ‘Gilles’. It was a little strange, although I understand everything. I think Gilles had a good moment tonight. I hope he feels even happier after I won this match. I hope that thanks to him the French fans will support me more. It’s just that when I hear “Gilles” I have to think that they are shouting “Daniel!” – Medvedev said.
So far Daniel’s criticisms are quite mild, but everything can change. A year ago, Medvedev sensationally lost to Brazilian Thiago Wilde in the first round at Roland Garros. He did not like the behavior of the spectators and gestured to the Parisians to calm down, but then they became even more agitated. The public in the French capital is very unique and difficult, so these types of techniques do not work with them.
Daniil Medvedev asks Roland Garros spectators to calm down
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
Of course, Medvedev will try not to get into incidents with spectators, but in case of difficulties on the court a nervous breakdown cannot be ruled out. Daniil is far from being the most reserved tennis player on the circuit and the French public knows how to provoke and drive players crazy.
Just look at the scandals in the Harry – Moutet and Goffin – Perricard matches. But Roland Garros has just begun, and the rowdy spectators in Paris are sure to make their presence felt more than once.
