French Open 2024: Alcohol prohibited in stands as tournament clamps down after fan spits at David Goffin

Published 30/05/2024 at 12:38 GMT

The French Open has banned the consumption of alcohol in the stands after David Goffin alleged that he was spat at by a spectator during his first-round match. Goffin claimed afterwards that he was struck by a piece of chewing gum during his five-set victory over the Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Court 14, with the crowd heavily on the home favourite's side, booing the Belgian.

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The French Open has banned alcohol from being consumed in the stands after David Goffin alleged that he was spat at by a spectator.

Goffin, the unseeded Belgian, was playing against Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Court 14 in his first-round tie, and was up against a partisan home crowd who continued to voice their support for their favourite.

The French crowd even booed Goffin after he had won the match, and he cupped his ear in response to the spectators.

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Goffin came out victorious in five sets, winning 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-7(4) 6-3, and he said afterwards: "Clearly, it goes too far, it's total disrespect. It's really too much.

"It's becoming football, soon there will be smoke bombs, hooligans and there will be fights in the stands.

"It's starting to become ridiculous. Some people are there more to cause trouble than to create an atmosphere.

"Someone spat out their chewing gum at me. It was getting complicated. That's why I wanted to stay calm. If I started to get angry about it, it could have destabilised me."

As such, Roland-Garros has taken the decision to ban alcohol from being consumed in the stands, but spectators are still allowed to drink on the concourse and between courts.

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Amelie Mauresmo, the tournament director, has stated that security will be upgraded and that umpires have been instructed to be firmer with crowds during matches.

“The umpires are really going to be even more strict to further respect the players and respect the game,” Mauresmo said.

“This is something that we’re not going to tolerate, to overstep these two things. That’s for sure. So umpires have quite an important role in this matter.

“And definitely in terms of security, we’re going to try to see which people are maybe making [trouble]… because I think it’s a few individuals at some point that are overstepping.

“[Security personnel will] try to calm them down or/or they go out. If they go too far, they go out.”