COVID curfew forces angry fans to leave

Novak Djokovic’s French Open quarterfinal against Matteo Berrettini was delayed for about 22 minutes while thousands of spectators were cleared out of the stadium court because of an 11 p.m. coronavirus curfew.

Pandemic-related restrictions were eased to allow 5,000 inside Court Philippe-Chatrier on Wednesday rather than the 1,000 for the previous matches, and it was quite an atmosphere until the rule was imposed.

Special energy

“The conditions were strange with the fans here and then the atmosphere was a bit different (afterward),” Djokovic said later. “You have to find a different motivation because the energy from the fans is special.”

Some disappointed fans jeered and even sang “We’ve paid, we’ll stay” as they refused to leave at 10:45 p.m. as curfew approached.

Shortly before 10:55 pm, both players packed their bags and walked off while fans shouted in frustration. The top-ranked Djokovic was up 2-1 in sets and leading 3-2 in the fourth when play was halted.

Feeling the sting

Berrettini waved to the crowd as they chanted his name shortly before the players departed. The big-hitting Italian said he felt for them. He also felt some sting was taken out of his game.

“I think it’s a shame, it’s something that I didn’t like. But it’s bigger than us, it’s not what you can do something about,” the ninth-seeded Berrettini said of the curfew.

Fans really didn’t take it well, however, and they certainly let it be known.

“Rip-off!” one said, while others blamed broadcaster Amazon or French Tennis Federation president Guy Forget.

Within a few minutes the main stadium was almost completely empty, although two angry fans continued to argue they had a right to stay until security officials finally ushered them away at 11:10 p.m.

“It’s unfortunate for the tournament, for the crowd, to have that curfew. But we knew it before the match,” Djokovic said. “The referee came up to us and said ‘if it comes close to 11:00, we’ll have to empty the stadium.’ That’s what happened.”

Moments later, both players came back out to warm up amid a cathedral-like silence as the sound of ball hitting racket replaced the sometimes raucous atmosphere.

Precedent

Djokovic had experienced something similar during the Australian Open in February, when fans had to be ushered out of the main show court during his victory over Taylor Fritz because of coronavirus restrictions in Melbourne.