Peyton Stearns has hit the ground running in her French Open campaign. She recently won her maiden WTA title, and a few days before the Grand Slam competition in Paris, she was undoubtedly prepared to take center stage. Although Stearns’s WTA triumph gave her more confidence and helped her through the first round, she acknowledged that her true advantage has been her experience playing tennis in college.

After defeating Lucija Ciric Bagaric, in an on-court interview, the 22-year-old tennis player opened up about how the crowd during the tight match definitely gave her college tennis vibes. She said, “Oh, it definitely had college tennis vibes, and I love it. Last year, I played here and I did well uh and I think it was because of the crowd.” 

Stearns missed out on five match points in the second set, but the fans’ support helped her through the difficult period. Eventually, she won the hard-fought battle 6-3, 6-7, 7-6.

Compared to college matches, where there is overwhelming support from your own teammates, the atmosphere during a professional tennis match is very different. However, Peyton Stearns found herself in a comfortable and supportive situation because of the French Open crowd’s resolute backing, which brought back memories of her time in college.

While the Roland Garros crowd warmed up to Stearns, during last year’s French Open, Marta Kostyuk believed the fans in the stands were in the wrong for jeering her, after refusing to shake hands with Sabalenka during their first-round clash. After their face-off, Kostyuk remarked, “I want to see people react in 10 years when the war is over. They will not feel really nice about what they did.”

Kostyuk went on to say that Sabalenka “does not respect” her, accusing the world No. 2 of not using her position to speak out against Belarus-backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “To reject her responsibility of having an opinion on the most important things in the world – I can’t respect that,” she continued.

Moreover, even Rafael Nadal addressed the crowd after his first-round defeat against Alexander Zverev as a part of his farewell speech, sharing his love with the crowd.

Rafael Nadal’s admiration for the French Open crowd

After the defeat against Zverev, the 22-time Grand Slam champion received a long-standing ovation at Roland-Garros for what might be his last French Open. The 37-year-old tennis player praised the crowd in his emotional speech after the match.

He said, “The feelings that you made me feel here are unbelievable. I really hope to see you again, but I don’t know. Merci beaucoup. If it’s the last time that I played here, I am at peace with myself.”

Nevertheless, what are your thoughts on the French Open crowd? Do let us know in the comment section below.