Australian Alex de Minaur singled out the French crowd’s behaviour following his loss to local hope Hugo Gaston in five sets at Roland-Garros.
Gaston, 21, pulled off a huge comeback victory against the 19th-seeded Aussie which ignited the crowd, akin to the kind of atmosphere that rival players were met with when playing Australians at Melbourne Park this year.
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The Frenchman trailed 3-0 in the deciding set after losing nine straight games before battling back to beat De Minaur 4-6 6-2 6-3 0-6 7-6(4) in a clash that lasted nearly four hours.
De Minaur copped it from the crowd from the outset, with the parochial French crowd raining boos down on the US Open quarter-finalist.
The French left-hander rattled off five straight points in the tiebreaker to clinch the win in the final frame, sending the home fans into delirium on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
“I think there’s a difference between a great atmosphere and supporting your fellow countryman, which is completely fine and it’s great,” de Minaur said after the match.
“I’m sure for him it was an amazing atmosphere. He enjoyed every second of it but there’s a line.
“When I’m getting told things by people in the crowd, making eye contact with me after I hit a double fault, I think there’s a certain line that needs to be kind of looked at.
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“But good for him for playing a great match in front of his home crowd and being able to feed off that, and having a moment that I’m sure he won’t forget.”
The defeat continued an unsuccessful tilt at the tournament for de Minaur in recent years, with the loss to Gaston his fourth in the first round.
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De Minaur’s defeat leaves Australia’s hopes resting on qualifier Jason Kubler in the round of 64.
The only other Aussie in addition to de Minaur who was left in the draw was John Millman, but he was eliminated by American Sebastian Korda, 1-6 5-7 6-7 (6-8).
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