Liam Brodie: At the French Open, hooliganism extends even to nine-year-olds

Liam Brody claims the disrespect from fans has been going on for years. Photo: Getty Images/Julian Finney

British number 5 Liam Brodie says player-baiting has become a spectator sport at Roland Garros, the historic tennis stadium where an alcohol ban was introduced on Thursday.

< p>This year's French Open was dominated by stories of unruly crowd behavior, including David Goffin's claim that a fan spat chewing gum at him during a match where he was «abused for three hours.»

Other players have since backed Goffin's stance, with world number one Novak Djokovic saying on Thursday: «I support a player standing up to people who don't respect him and who interrupt him.»

Speaking on TalkSport on Friday morning, Brodie said: “A lot of players said that was the case for a few years after Covid. There I had all sorts of personal violence. Try to laugh it off. But it's difficult because there's only 15 or 20 seconds between plays and a nine-year-old child is telling you what's going to happen and insulting you. It's a different experience.

“Last year, in the second round of qualifying, I had to ask a group of people to be removed. I think this has been going on for years and the judges can't seem to do anything.

“I feel like at the French Open, a few guys go out drinking with their mates and see what players you can knock off. Many people don't actually go to watch sports.

“The sound [of people screaming during the prank] is not a problem. If you change this rule, I think players will get used to it. It's more about when people personally harass and abuse a player. We use towels, and the towel drawer is right next to where people sit and they spit on Goffin.”

David On Tuesday, a spectator spat chewing gum at Goffin. Photo: Getty Images/Richard Callis

During a lunchtime press briefing on Thursday, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo announced that fans will no longer be able to take alcoholic drinks into their seats. and will only be able to consume them in the halls. 

However, whether such rules can be reliably enforced is another question. One fan sitting in front of the media seats on Court Suzanne Lenglen on Thursday afternoon had a beer in each hand.

“The referees are really going to be even stricter to [give] further respect to the players and respect the game » Mauresmo said Thursday. “That’s something we’re not going to tolerate, step over those two things. That's for sure. So judges play a very important role in this matter.

“And definitely from a safety standpoint, we'll try to see what kind of people might be causing [problems], because I think at some point a few people are going to cross the line.”

That's the second option. Fan behavior at Roland Garros has become a talking point among players throughout the year, although last year the complaints were mostly about booing and jeering rather than outright personal insults.

For some reason, a player only needs to talk to the referee at the French Open to earn a chorus of boos (unless the player is French, of course). Sometimes even celebrating can be enough to trigger a negative reaction. Last year, Djokovic complained of a lack of respect after he was booed for punching the air during a tense third-round win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokin.

“There are people — there are groups or what.” “that kind of thing – who like to boo everything you do,” Djokovic said then. “I find it disrespectful and, frankly, I don’t understand it.”