'Absolutely ludicrous decision' - Unpopular rule causes big fan disruption during match at French Open

There was a delay in proceedings during defending champion Barbora Krejcikova's first-round match against Diane Parry due to an unpopular rule at the French Open. With the second seed from the Czech Republic holding a 6-1 2-1 lead with a break of serve in the second set, she was forced to delay continuing the match due to fans taking an age to shuffle around and find their seats inside Court Philippe Chatrier.

Ad/> As explained by an irate Mark Petchey on commentary for Eurosport at the time, the somewhat farcical delay was all as a result of the common rule in professional tennis of fans having to wait until a changeover in order to enter the stadium and find their seats. Australian OpenSiniakova and Krejcikova seal women's doubles title at Australian Open30/01/2022 AT 09:24 Rather than being allowed to return to their seats after the first game of a set, fans are forced to wait outside for three games.

Then, after making it back in, there is often a long delay as a large group of fans have to try to quickly find their seats. As Petchey said in animated fashion, it is an unpopular rule that appears to do little to keep things moving quickly during matches, and as was the case for Krejcikova and Parry, can cause a lot of disruption to both players in breaking up the rhythm of a match.

«Well, of course, this is always the three-game nightmare that tennis has. This has obviously just compounded it because there is an issue about the tickets and who is sitting in whose seat — even though there are plenty enough seats to go and sit in.