French Open: ‘I’d be crying’ – Taylor Fritz gets booed again – this time before match even begins

Eurosport’s experts have reacted to the “uncomfortable” scenes of Taylor Fritz getting roundly booed yet again by the fans at the 2023 French Open on Saturday.

Before he had even emerged fully from the entrance to the court, Fritz was aware of the welcome he would receive as the fans began to boo, and it got considerably louder as he emerged on the red dirt.

Fritz held up his hand with a peace sign and simply smiled as he strode out on to the court and did not appear to mind the boos one bit, although a few of Eurosport’s experts felt sorry for him, nonetheless.

“This is rough!” Barbara Schett said in her immediate reaction to the situation.

Tim Henman agreed: “It’s a bit uncomfortable. The match hasn’t even started, but he’s back out on the same court where he played, having won the match and telling the crowd to be quiet. They obviously haven’t forgotten.”

Alize Lim added: “I don’t know what’s going on, I’m amazed to see this. It’s sad for him.

“He was provoking them the other day, but it’s not the same people. It’s different ticket-holders today, but it seems like the same people.

“If I was him, I’d be crying right now, but he seems to not care at all. It might give him extra motivation.”

Speaking after Fritz’s victory over Rinderknech in the previous round, Eurosport’s John McEnroe said he loved watching his countryman shushing the partisan Paris crowd.

“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.

“I’ve got to hand it to Fritz, he’s done an incredible job getting himself in tip-top shape, he’s one of the best ball strikers that you’ll see on a tennis court, and he battles.

“He’s got some personality. I’ve been saying this for 50 years, but you play one-on-one against someone, you need that intensity.

“I think Taylor rose to the occasion. He’s a better player than Rinderknech in my opinion, I don’t think it’s a huge upset that he won that match.

“But I like to see a little confrontation, a la [Daniil] Medvedev a couple of years ago at the US Open.”

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