Iga Swiatek talked about the rowdy French crowd that bothered her during the match against Naomi Osaka after beating her at the 2024 Roland Garros.
The French crowd in Paris can get really loud, especially when a player is facing a French player. The Pole didn't play a French player in her most recent match, but Osaka got a lot of fan support, especially when she started to win the match.
Crowds at majors often support underdogs, which the Japanese player was despite being a former world no. 1. Osaka didn't win the match in the end, and after the match, the Polish player addressed the crowd, noting her disappointment in how they acted during some moments of the match.
"Yes, I got the most frustrated when I missed that drop volley. Yeah, somebody shouted during when the ball was flying to me. But I knew that I should be more focused and not let this distract me, but sometimes it's hard, because in tennis we're used to the stadium being silent during the point."
Some tennis players mind loudness more than others. There are those who enjoy noise during a match, benefitting from the energy, but Swiatek would prefer it if it was quieter.
Obviously, the French crowd won't care about that and will do their own thing, but Swiatek still wanted to speak out about the topic.
"It happened more times, especially before the returns, and that's why I wanted to speak out about it, because if it would happen one time, I would just let it go. I know the French crowd is enthusiastic."
"Yeah, but for now in tennis we have these kind of rules that there should be, like, more silence in the audience, and I just wanted to point out that it's not easy for us."
"But I know that French crowds can be kind of harsh (smiling), so I don't want to be under the radar right now. So, yeah, I don't know if that was a good decision or not, but I hope they can treat me as a human and just we can kind of work on it."
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