Roland-Garros 2024: Dan Evans “fed up, period” with the referees, David Goffin rants against “hooligan” fans

Dan Evans launched a scathing assessment of the Roland-Garros referees after his straight sets defeat to Holger Rune on Tuesday.

Evans led 4-2 in the third set before the man in the chair, Jaume Campistol, came down to review a mark on the clay. The decision was in favor of the Briton, but the delay caused him to lose his serve and, consequently, the match.

“I’m sick of referees, period,” Evans later told the media.

“I’m waiting to serve. It’s cold on the court. The match went very well and then stopped in the middle.

“That’s not why I lost and that’s just part of the problem, part of the problem, but he’ll be back at work tomorrow.

“Overall, the refereeing is good. Clay is a difficult surface. But having a conversation about someone else’s serve, you don’t see that in any other sport.

“In rugby they have 10 meters or whatever, in squash it’s not allowed, we don’t talk. We sit there and have a conversation. We’ve seen many cases of that.”

Evans has previously spoken out on the referee issue after Mohamed Lahyani appeared to have checked the wrong mark during a match against Fabio Fognini in Rome – a decision which worked in the Italian’s favour.

“I actually got fined in Rome for my language. I made a point of looking at my prize receipt and got fined,” Evans added.

“This is the tour for you, isn’t it? The powers that be don’t have to answer the questions, it’s the players. It’s really disappointing.

“It takes a strong character to get down (from your chair and make a decision) but remember, they do pretty much exactly the same thing we do when we all wake up in the morning.

“They’re humans and I think some of them forget that.”

Meanwhile, David Goffin hit out at what he called a “total lack of respect” from fans after his dramatic five-set win over Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, claiming someone spat chewing on him -gum.

The Belgian prevailed with a 4-6 6-4 6-3 6(4)-7 6-3 victory, but saw his victory spoiled by the antics of the crowd at Roland Garros.

He said: “When you’re being insulted for three and a half hours, you have to tease the audience a bit.

“It’s clear that this goes too far, it’s a total lack of respect. It’s really too much. It’s becoming football, soon there will be smoke bombs, hooligans and there will be fights in the stands.

“It’s starting to get ridiculous. Some are there more to cause trouble than to create an atmosphere.

“Someone spat their gum at me. It (the match) was getting complicated. That’s why I wanted to stay calm. If I had started to get angry, it could have destabilized me.