‘These have to go!’: How 12-inch block of foam ignited a French Open row
ROLAND GARROS — French Open organisers are facing criticism over their attitude to player safety after a bizarre injury forced one to retire.
Turkish doubles player Zeynep Sonmez was scampering towards the back of the court to retrieve a ball in her second-round match when she tripped over an advertising hoarding at the back of the court and fell into the back wall.
The board, bearing the name of major tournament sponsor Lacoste, sits in front of the line judges and is made of foam covered in plastic.
Sonmez, 24, spent more than 10 minutes being attended to by medics on Court 6 and was eventually forced to quit the match after just two games.
Less than 24 hours earlier, British No 3 Katie Boulter had tripped over a similar block on Court 13, which like Court 6 is one of the smallest outside courts at Roland Garros with less space behind the baseline than the show courts.
“These things have to go,” Boulter wrote on social media. “Got lucky last night but next time I might not be.”
Sonmez added: “I stand with Katie. 5 incidents in 5 days. I left the court with 2 stitches and a bruised knee. Thankfully, it wasn’t worse.
“Do we really have to wait until a player is seriously injured before these courtside boards are removed? Player safety must come first.”
And on Tuesday, Belgian rising star Alexander Blockx was spotted hopping back from practice after injury his ankle, sarcastically posting on Instagram that he had tripped over the “really necessary” covers at the back of the court, before hastily editing it to something more diplomatic. But his coach Ruben Bemelmans later said that they were considering claiming compensation from the tournament over the injury.
International Tennis Federation (ITF) regulations state there should be at least 21 feet of space between the baseline and the back fence.
Pam Shriver, a 21-time grand slam doubles champion who is coaching at Roland Garros, added: “Tarps in play, Lacoste signs in play, large white sponsor signage on back wall hurting vision, sub par umbrellas for shade, suboptimal % of prize money, no heat rule… how else are players well fair [sic] not being looked after?”
The spat comes at a point when the players are already at loggerheads with the grand slams and particularly Roland Garros: 20 top players held a media day boycott last week, limiting their usual one-hour press commitments to just 15 minutes, representative of the 15 per cent of revenue which organisers devote to prize money.
