French Fans Unite Behind Their Players at Roland Garros

The Roland Garros tournament has a special bond with the French fans who loudly support any French player, no matter how badly they are performing. Pouille, a 29-year-old Frenchman, lost in straight sets to Cameron Norrie in less than two hours at the Suzanne Lenglen court but the 10,000 strong French supporters continued to chant Pouille’s name throughout the match. The French crowd is like the crescendo of a symphony with spontaneous renditions of “La Marseillaise,” the French national anthem, reverberating through the stadium at unpredictable times.

The French Open, Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Australian Open each have their unique ambiance. The Australian Open is a two-week summertime party held when much of the world is shivering. Wimbledon is known for the quietest crowd and the mystique surrounding the grass, especially the Centre Court. The US Open is known to deliver noisy chaos by disregarding the idea that big-time tennis is supposed to unfold amid quiet. Roland Garros is different from all of these tournaments due to the sheer, limitless abandon that French fans show in supporting their countrymen. The French crowd unites behind anyone who carries the French standard, the bleu-blanc-rouge.

Despite the drought faced by Frenchmen at this tournament, fans still hold onto their hope of a French win. A Frenchman has not won the singles tournament since Yannick Noah in 1983, or made the inal since Henri Leconte in 1988, while a Frenchwoman has not won since Mary Pierce in 2000, which was also the last time the country was represented in the women’s singles final. The French fan continues to root for every French player, be it on any court. A recent instance is that of Gael Monfils, whose Gumby-like athleticism and ambivalent relationship with the sport have made him a tennis folk hero. Monfils’ triumph over Sebastian Baez of Argentina on Tuesday night, made the crowd “will him back to life” after he fell behind by 4-0 in the fifth set. The roar at the Philippe Chatrier court could be heard more than a mile away. Monfils rewarded his fans with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 victory, only to announce his withdrawal from the tournament due to a wrist injury the next day.

Thursday was a disappointing day as French players lost all their singles matches, including Caroline Garcia, the only seeded Frenchwoman. Although she spoke of trying to use the crowd’s support to her advantage, Garcia frittered away her lead and lost to Anna Blinkova of Russia, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. The accompanying throaty urgings, nonetheless, were not absent from the stadium. When the last Frenchman, Arthur Rinderknech, lost on Thursday night to the ninth-seeded Taylor Fritz, the crowd expressed its disappointment in their own way – by booing Fritz so loudly he could not hear the post-match interview questions.

The French fans would continue to push the rock uphill, rooting passionately for their players for another year, hoping for a French victory at Roland Garros next year.