There is a very fine line between support, motivation, and disruptive behavior in professional tennis. Remember what happened in Rome and Madrid, a few weeks earlier? Each time Casper Ruud went on to serve in his SF clash against Francisco Cerundolo at the Madrid Open, fans would yell and disrupt his rhythm. Getting irked by the whole situation, Ruud later on asked the chair umpire, “How many times can a fan interrupt a player before something is done?” Shortly after that, a series of similar incidents took place at the Italian Open. Diana Shnaider had to face a hostile environment in her QF match against Jasmine Paolini. She was even spotted engaging in a couple of arguments with the crowd, making gestures and yelling at them during the match. Even Daniil Medvedev, Alex de Minaur, Jakub Mensik faced the same! But now, after seeing this series of incidents, the French Open has withheld its bold step. What’s it? No sipping, no yelling!

At the Italian Open, we even saw the world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, getting involved in a heated exchange with the Rome crowd in her QF match against Qinwen Zheng. She visibly got frustrated when a spectator yelled at her, saying, “Come on, Aryna, play tennis.” Replying to that fan, she screamed out obscenities and also got a code violation for that. 

Last year, during the French Open, one of the supporters allegedly spat chewing gum at the Belgian star David Goffin during his match against the Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. Following this incident, the French Open organizers decided to adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards unruly crowd behavior, and hence they came up with a ban on the consumption of alcohol last year. Reacting to this decision, Goffin later said, “OK, it was fine this year. Maybe [fans think] we go for it for more next year, and then the year after is even more. You never know if they’re going to come with firecrackers.“

As things stand, the French Open bosses have agreed to go on with this ban even this year as well. Alcohol consumption will be completely banned in the stands for the entire tournament this year. While making this announcement in an interview with Ouest-France, the tournament director Amelie Maresmo said, “It will be fully renewed this year. You can obviously consume in the aisles. But once you’re on a court, that’s it. And if we notice any incidents, we don’t hesitate to evacuate spectators. I also think that the post-COVID period has given people the desire to express themselves differently and more fully, to let go. And not just at sporting events.”

Adding to this note, even the former French Open champion, Mats Wilander, had previously spoken about how there has been a shift in fan behavior post-pandemic. “The planet has become much more emotional, nerves are more raw. They were ordered to act in this or that way. They didn’t like it. They came back with the idea of living and showing their emotions.” A few years ago, Novak Djokovic had even taken a jibe at the Parisian crowd for their “disrespectful” behavior. What had he said then, though?

“I find that disrespectful” – Novak Djokovic took a brutal jibe at the French Open crowd in 2023

In 2023, Novak Djokovic faces quite a lot of jeers and boos from the French Open crowd for taking a medical timeout in one of his matches. Seeing that gesture from the crowd, he gave the spectators a round of applause and a thumbs-up. After defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in that third-round clash, Djokovic slammed the unruly behavior of the crowd by saying, “I think the majority of the people come to enjoy tennis or support one or the other player. But there are people who love to boo every single thing you do.”

He also added, “That’s something that I find disrespectful, and I frankly don’t understand that. But it’s their right. They paid for the ticket. They can do whatever they want. Actually, 99 percent of the time I will stay quiet, but sometimes I will oppose that because I feel when somebody is disrespectful, he or she deserves to have an answer to that.” 

Seeing this incident, American tennis legend John McEnroe showed his support for Djokovic by asking on the commentary for Eurosport, “Why do they boo? Everyone does it [take a medical time-out]. It’s totally legal, you’re allowed to work and rub his legs! Where’s Davidoch Fokina? He’s off to the bathroom. I totally get his reaction. Are you kidding me? Are you going to boo for this? The other guy’s not even on the court! Change the rules if you don’t want to let a guy get worked on, but don’t start doing that. It’s absurd!“

He asked them to respect the athletes, and guess what? Even Taylor Fritz got a bit annoyed during one of his matches that year and was spotted repeatedly shushing the home crowd after his victory against Arthur Rinderknech. 

Now, talking about Novak Djokovic and his constant troubles with hecklers, this year at the AO, he was seen engaging with a drunk spectator. But the conversation was on a lighter note this time! Share your thoughts on this decision, about the alcohol ban at the French Open.