Taylor Fritz silenced the French public at Roland Garros and the controversy ignited

Roland Garros turned up the heat this Thursday on the fifth day of action in the men’s draw following the American’s win Taylor Fritz on the local Arthur Rinderknech 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 and 6-4, who accepted the third round where he will face the Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo, who previously won 6-3, 6-3 and 6 – 4 to the German Yannick Hanfmann.

The Paris crowd supported his compatriot but instead of using words of encouragement he decided to be crude towards the American who had to endure boos and boos throughout the match. Every time Rinderknech won a point, he was sparingly celebrated, but when it was Fritz who missed, he was celebrated even more.

And if tennis is a “gentleman’s” sport, Fritz (number 8 in the ATP ranking) held out until he won his well-deserved victory in 2 hours and 50 minutes against the last Frenchman in singles. the tournament. When he won the last point, he put his index finger to his mouth and asked for “silence.”

Fritz’s reaction, as was to be expected, didn’t go over well with the audience, who booed him for a minute straight and didn’t allow him to declare in front of the microphone what the organization usually offers to winners of every game, still hot, on the brick dust.

“It was great that they provoked me. They encouraged me so much that I managed to win the match,” Taylor Fritz closed the scene ironically, while Morgan Riddle, the San Diego-born tennis player’s partner, could be seen on the screens in the stadium , California, 25 years ago.

Once the young blonde appeared on the stadium screens, the boos turned into applause. Is that Riddle gained great notoriety after participating in the documentary “Break point” on the Netflix streaming platform. Through her TikTok account, Fritzler’s fiancée helped bring tennis to an audience that doesn’t usually consume it and allowed her partner -too- to add followers on the networks.

Now the one who will have to come face to face with Fritzler is Francisco Cerúndolo, who has the illusion of continuing to advance in the French Grand Slam.