French Open BANS alcohol in stands in crackdown on raucous behaviour... after David Goffin accused fans of spitting at him and defending champion Iga Swiatek told crowds to stop calling out during points from soap pole Watch Video

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✓ Published: 30-May-2024

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The French Open has banned fans from drinking alcohol on the court in a bid to crack down on increasingly raucous behavior this year.<br/><br/>It becomes the only one of the four Grand Slams to not allow alcohol in the stands.<br/><br/>Belgian David Goffin said a spectator spat his chewing gum at him during his win against French player Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and said: ‘It’s becoming like a football match.’<br/><br/>And on Thursday tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said that after an emergency meeting, Roland Garros has decided to ban fans from bringing alcohol onto the court, as one of several measures to curb the bad behavior.<br/><br/>‘So a few things have been put in place: first of all, the umpires are going to be even more strict to further respect the players and respect the game. Overstepping those two things is something that we're not going to tolerate.<br/><br/>‘Alcohol was allowed until now in the stands – that’s over.<br/><br/>‘If you don't behave well or if throw things at the players, that's it, you go out. It’s very clear, the instructions are given and we will have no hesitation.<br/><br/>‘And in terms of security, we're going to see which people are overstepping - because I think it's a few individuals. These individuals, we try to calm them down or if they go too far, they go out.<br/><br/>‘We’re going to upgrade the security.’<br/><br/>‘We tried to gather information on what happened and so these are new rules from this morning. So we'll see how it goes.’<br/><br/>On the specific accusation that Goffin had been spat at, former world No1 Mauresmo said: ‘We are on it, for now we haven’t found them.’ Will they be banned from future events? ‘First, we need to find them, then we’ll make a decision.’<br/><br/>Goffin claimed the atmosphere at the French Open was becoming 'ridiculous', suggesting some fans were there to cause trouble.<br/><br/>'A lot of people are complaining, a lot of umpires feel that there is a lot of disrespect.<br/><br/>'This is repeated a lot in the locker room and among the ATP authorities. We’re going to have to do something about that.<br/><br/>'I think it only happens in France. At Wimbledon, there’s not that. Or in Australia either.<br/><br/>'And at the US Open, it’s still rather quiet. Here [at Roland Garros], it’s an unhealthy atmosphere.<br/><br/>'Clearly, it goes too far, it’s total disrespect. It’s too much. It’s becoming football, soon there will be smoke bombs, hooligans and there will be fights in the stands.<br/><br/>'It’s starting to become ridiculous. Some people are there more to cause trouble than to create an atmosphere.<br/><br/>'Someone spat out their chewing gum at me. It [the match] was getting complicated. That’s why I wanted to stay calm. If I started to get angry about it, it could have destabilized me.'<br/><br/>World No. 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek also felt crowd behavior went too far during her pulsating with over Naomi Osaka on Wednesday.<br/><br/>The Pole pleaded with the crowd after her match: ‘I am sorry to bring this up, I know we are playing for you. This is entertainment and we are earning money because of you. But so