Opponents of French Players at the French Open Deal with Insults and Whistling and, Yes, Even Gum
In all sports, there are advantages to being at home. At the French Open tennis tournament, being a visitor playing against a French player can feel as though the whole world is against you.
The crowds don’t just cheer. They boo, they whistle, they make noise between serves, they hurl insults and, at least once, even gum, at the locals’ opponents. That sort of behavior is why the tournament organizers banned alcohol from the stands last year, a policy still in place.
Some of the non-French athletes who deal with that sort of negativity in Paris, such as 19-year-old Jakub Mensík of the Czech Republic, who eliminated Alexandre Müller in front of a rowdy crowd at Court 14 on Tuesday, compare the high-intensity atmosphere to that of a soccer game.
Others choose stronger terms.
“Disgusting. Worst experience of my life,” was what Nicolás Jarry of Chile said this week when asked to think back to last year’s rowdy loss at Court Simonne-Mathieu to France’s Corentin Moutet, whose coach had implored the spectators to make life “hell” for Jarry after the two had a contentious meeting in Santiago earlier in the season.
Jarry blamed that on Moutet, saying that everything was calmer during his loss Monday to another Frenchman, Arthur Fils, whom the Chilean called a “good guy” and a “gentleman.”
