French Open spectators will no longer be able to consume alcohol from the stands, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo has revealed. (Full Coverage | Tennis News)
The move has been made in a bid to end unruly behaviour within the crowd following a couple of incidents at Roland-Garros this week.
Reigning women's champion Iga Swiatek pleaded for supporters to keep quiet during points after her second-round victory over Naomi Osaka, while David Goffin had chewing gum spat at him in his win over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
While alcohol will still be available on the concourses, Mauresmo says there will be tougher security measures in place to identify offenders, while umpires are encouraged to be stricter when calling for respect "to the players and to the game".
"First of all, we are happy people are very enthusiastic about watching tennis and being part of the matches, showing feeling and emotions," the tournament director said.
"But there are definitely steps which shouldn't go further. A few things have needed to be put in place. Alcohol has been allowed up until now in the stands - but that's over."
"Overstepping these two things is not something we will tolerate. If people want to show emotion, that's great and see how it happens. I'm an optimist and I think people will react in a good way. If not, we will take more measures."
