French Open 2023: Home fans 'don't do their player any favours' says Mats Wilander after Taylor Fritz booing
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Published 02/06/2023 at 16:48 GMT
Taylor Fritz was on the end of some rowdy treatment from the home fans at the French Open on Thursday, but Mats Wilander thinks it may have been counter-productive. The Swede witnessed how the Suzanne-Lenglen crowd "ganged up" on Fritz during his match with Arthur Rinderknech, but felt it was the American who derived more benefit from it. Stream the French Open live on discovery+ and Eurosport.
'They don’t do their home player any favours' - Wilander on French fans booing opponents
Taylor Fritz was on the end of some rowdy treatment at the French Open on Thursday night, but Mats Wilander thinks the "charged up" behaviour of the home fans may have been counter-productive.
Fritz knocked out Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the second round, but it was the vociferous participation of the crowd that was the talking point afterwards, with Fritz shushing the crowd at the end of the match, and then again during his brief interview on court, which contained a degree of irony.
"They cheered so well for me, I wanted to make sure I won. Thanks guys," the American said.
The intention of the Roland-Garros faithful had clearly been to give their man a boost, but Wilander suggested Fritz - and others facing French players - could be the real beneficiaries.
He said: "When you’re playing a Frenchman on Lenglen late at night, fans have been here all day and there’s no either French men or women left in the draw, they would’ve ganged up on Fritz to help Rinderknech get through.
"He won the first set, and they got even more charged up. He handled it very well. I don’t think they necessarily mean to boo players, but they’re very engaged and enthusiastic this year. You have to use the crowd somehow whether they’re for you or against you.
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'You've got to be brave to do that' - Fritz 'shushes' the crowd after win
"I think when they are on your case, you get involved with them and then that helps you get fired up.
"I don’t think the French crowd, when they do that, they don’t do their home player any favours, they’re actually charging the foreigner up.
"It’s sports; they’re having fun. Taylor Fritz played against a Frenchman, It's not that big a deal.
"I’d think they’re a bit more involved here than if you play a Brit at Wimbledon or an American at the US Open, or an Aussie in Australia. In Australia, they get pretty rowdy. The fanatics, especially when Hewitt played.
"They’re involved here and it hurts the tournament where there aren’t any French players left in the third round. The fans know that, and they get more fired up because they need someone to get to the second week."
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Rinderknech v Fritz - Roland-Garros highlights
Talking on commentary during Novak Djokovic's second-round match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina about his own perspective on the Roland-Garros crowds, John McEnroe added: "They're very emotional, like me.
"They love their tennis, it's nice actually - it makes me enjoy my couple of weeks here.
"They get super into it. People that watched me play, for better and for worse, I did also. They have been very supportive of the tournament. I walk around and they still remember me. I thank them for that."
McEnroe also told Eurosport's Laura Robson earlier in the day that he felt Fritz had handled the situation "incredibly".
"I can relate to fans being against me, so respect for Taylor. I love that,” said McEnroe. "[A hostile crowd] can be extremely intimidating, but it also can be very inspiring. You can use that negative fuel to your advantage.
“This is what it’s all about – Americans coming to Paris or vice versa, you know the crowd is going to be against you and you’re pumped up for it.
“That’s exactly what Fritz did – I thought he handled it incredibly.”
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