Garbine blasts ‘disrespectful’ French crowd

– An emotional Garbine Muguruza (right) blasted the French Open crowd for being disrespectful after the defending champion lost to home hope Kristina Mladenovic in the last 16 yesterday.

The Spaniard departed Court Suzanne Lenglen scoldingly wagging her finger as the crowd were asked to applaud Muguruza following her 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 defeat.

“I think the audience was really tough today. I can’t really understand. I don’t know how to explain,” said Muguruza, whose post-match press conference was briefly interrupted when she broke down in tears and left the

Paris

room before quickly returning.

“If you had been in my shoes on the court, I think you would have understood. I don’t know what people were expecting. I’d rather not say anything more.”

Mladenovic thrived on the partisan support as the 13th seed ensured the host nation will have two women in the quarterfinals for the first time in 23 years.

But Muguruza said should she felt the crowd lacked respect at times. “I just think that they were a little bit, sometimes should be a little bit more respectful. The chair umpire has to always calm the crowd down.”

But she added: “I’m not here to create enemies. I mean, I love playing here.”

Asked whether she could hear Mladenovic yelling “forza” (come on) on her unforced errors, Muguruza replied: “No, I think she speaks like 25 languages, I heard.”

Muguruza’s defeat means Justine Henin, who won the title in 2003 and then from 2005 to 2007, remains the last woman to successfully defend her crown at Roland Garros.

Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky qualified for her third successive French Open quarterfinal with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 win over 2002 runner-up Venus Williams.

The 30th seed will face Mladenovic for a place in the semifinals.

Bacsinszky’s best Grand Slam performance came when she reached the last four at Roland Garros in 2015, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams.

Her victory over Venus means a first-time major champion will be crowned next Saturday.

Latvian teenager Jelena Ostapenko reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over 2010 runner-up Samantha Stosur and will next take on 11th seed Caroline Wozniacki. – AFP