Brit tennis star Liam Broady agrees with the French Open’s decision to ban booze… insisting some fans just drink to ‘see which players they can rattle’ with ‘personal and verbal abuse’

Liam Broady agrees that unruly behavior is getting worse at the French Open. He says some fans don’t come to watch tennis, but “to have a drink with their friends and see which players they can shock.”

The French Open has banned fans from drinking alcohol on the court after players complained of an increasingly hostile atmosphere.

The trigger for tournament director Amelie Mauresmo’s action was David Goffin’s match against French player Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, when he said a fan spit chewing gum at him in an atmosphere of ‘total disrespect – that only happens in France’.

Great Britain’s number 147 Broady backed his Belgian counterpart and shared his own experiences of harassment from fans at Roland Garros.

“A lot of players have said this has been the case for a few years now since Covid. I had all kinds of personal abuse there,” the 30-year-old told Talksport.

‘You try to laugh it off. But it’s hard because you only have 15 or 20 seconds between points and you have a nine-year-old kid telling you what’s going to happen and insulting you. It’s a different experience.

‘Last year during my second qualifying round I had to ask to remove a group of people. I think this has been happening for a few years now and the referees don’t seem to be able to do anything anymore.

‘I have the feeling at the French Open that a few guys are having a drink with their mates and seeing which players you can beat. A lot of people don’t actually go and watch the sport.

‘The noise is not a problem. If you change that rule, I think players will get used to it. It’s more about people going after a player personally, causing verbal abuse.

“We use the towels and the towel box is right next to where people are sitting and Goffin is being spit on.”