World No 1 Iga Swiatek appealed to the French Open crowds to be silent during points after beating former world No 1 Naomi Osaka tonight, Wednesday May 29.
After congratulating Osaka, Swiatek said she wanted to say “one thing.”
“I know we are playing basically for you, and we are also earning money because of you,” she told the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd.
“But sometimes when you scream something during the rally or right during the return. it’s really really hard to focus… I usually don’t bring this up, because I want to be this kind of player that is really in the zone.
“But guys, this is serious for us, we’re fighting our whole lives to be better and better… The stakes are big, there’s a lot of money here to win. Losing a few points can change a lot.
“If you can support us before the rallies, but not during, that’d be really really amazing.”
Swiatek had missed a crucial forehand drive volley at the back end of the third set, after someone screamed out while the ball was in the air. She was rallying from 5-2 down, and ultimately prevailed 7-5, saving one match point in the process.
Her comments come after a series of complaints from players about the crowds at the tournament, but Swiatek was not talking about raucousness or egregious behaviour.
After beating French wildcard Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard yesterday, Belgian David Goffin said someone “spat chewing gum,” at him, and compared the crowds to hooligans at football matches.
Earlier in the week, a baying crowd on Simonne-Mathieu helped Corentin Moutet to victory over Chilean Nicolas Jarry. Prior to the match, Moutet’s coach had asked the Parisians to bring “hell” for the occasion, feeling slighted by the behaviour of the Chilean fans when the duo met in Santiago in March.
After tonight’s win, Swiatek will face either Jana Fett or Marie Bouzkova in the third round.
(Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images)
