French Open goes dry with alcohol ban to quieten disruptive fans

PARIS :After rain stopped play on the outer courts at Roland Garros early on Thursday afternoon, fans were in for more disappointment when organisers banned alcohol in the stands as unruly behaviour came under scrutiny.

Belgian David Goffin had accused partisan fans at the French Open of "total disrespect" when he took on a local favourite in the first round and said one of them had spat gum at him, while Iga Swiatek urged spectators not to scream during rallies.

The comments appeared to spark tournament director Amelie Mauresmo into action and the former world number one said it was time to put a stop to the problems with drastic measures.

"First of all, we're happy people are enthusiastic about watching tennis and being part of the matches, showing feeling and emotions," Mauresmo told reporters.

"But there are definitely steps which shouldn't go further. A few things have needed to be put in place.

"Alcohol was allowed until now in the stands but that's over... If they exceed the limit, if they don't behave well or if they throw things at the players, that's it."

Mauresmo said that umpires had been asked to become stricter and intervene to ensure that the players were respected, while security would step in if fans misbehaved.

"Let's see how it goes with the (umpires) being a little bit more strict. Let's see how it goes with the security being also a little bit more strict," she added.

"I don't want to be negative and I'm an optimist. I'm really trying to see that people are going to react in a good way, that it's going to be okay. If it's not, we'll take other measures."

Goffin said he had received plenty of support from his peers for speaking out.

"I was surprised that everybody was like 'What you said is great'. So everybody