A BOOZE BAN has been slapped on rowdy French Open punters after two episodes of crowd disturbances.
Alcohol will not be permitted to be drunk in the stands of tennis matches at Roland Garros for the remainder of the tournament following an emergency call by officials.
It followed claims by David Goffin who alleged “someone spat out their chewing gum at me” during his three-and-a-half-hour, five-set win over French wildcard Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Court 14 on Tuesday night.
The Belgian tennis star, 33, was so unhappy that he warned tennis is turning into football with “smoke bombs, hooligans and fights”.
Tournament chief Amelie Mauresmo, 44, said: “Alcohol was until now allowed (authorised) in the stands, outside the players' stand and the presidential stand. Now it's finished everywhere.
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“If they exceed the limit, if they don’t behave well or if they throw things at the players, that’s it, they go out.”
Punters are allowed to drink at the three other Slams on the calendar and some might argue this is a woke overreaction.
On a separate note, Mauresmo, a former Wimbledon champion, said umpires will try to clamp down on noisy spectators and those who overstep the mark will be ejected from the grounds.
After she beat Naomi Osaka on Court Philippe-Chatrier, two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek told the crowd to shut up during rallies as it was stopping her from focusing properly.
The Frenchwoman, a former world No.1, added: “We are happy that people are very enthusiastic about watching tennis, about being part of the matches, about feeling emotions and showing emotions.
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“But yes, definitely there are steps that they shouldn’t go further.
“The umpires are really going to be even more strict in respect to the players and respect the game.
“This is something that we’re not going to tolerate, to overstep these two things.
“So these individuals...we will try to calm them down or they go out. If they go too far, they go out.
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“We’re going to upgrade the security. We’re going to see how it goes.
“I think if people entering the stadium, they’re happy, they want to share emotions, that’s great.
“I’m really trying to see that people are going to react in a good way and that it’s going to be okay, and if it’s not, then we will take the other measures.”
