Fils: “You can’t complain about the crowd — the French are the best in the world anyway”
Arthur Fils, who won a thrilling match in a heated atmosphere against Jaume Munar, can’t understand why his opponent complained about the crowd’s behavior.
Arthur Fils, Roland-Garros 2025 | © Julien Nouet / Tennis Majors
French players might not go far at Roland-Garros every year, but there are always long marathons won by them, fueled by a passionate crowd. Arthur Fils won one of those battles against Jaume Munar in the second round, and the Spaniard did not appreciate the atmosphere he experienced.
“That’s the most annoying crowd (in the tennis world), clearly,” Munar said, as quoted by L’Équipe. “They sing the anthem (all the way through, even if it delays the start of a game), they don’t let you serve, they keep messing around to distract you between serves. Whether I hit a double fault or not, it’s my fault, not theirs, but it would be nice if the game could go on normally. Imagine now, during a press conference, someone shouting, preventing me from answering. It would be absurd.”
Earlier, he had said: “I have no problem with people cheering for the other player, with shouting—I’m prepared for that. In South America, they’re also very intense. But what I consider a total lack of respect—and this happens often here—is being stopped by singing, interrupting the game, which then can’t proceed normally.”
the French public is one of the best if not the best, and that’s just the way it is
Following those quotes, Fils was asked if the French crowd was “undisciplined.” “‘Undisciplined’ is a harsh term,” he answered. “When you look at the public spectators at football matches or in the NBA and NFL, there is a crazy atmosphere. The tennis public is a little more disciplined. Sometimes they’re noisy, and sometimes it’s a bit annoying for the opponent. But this is part of life. You’ve got no choice.”
“When I went to Brazil, I played against Fonseca, and I didn’t complain about the public”, Fils highlighted. “You’ve got no choice. When you go to Australia, you play Australians. When you go to New York, you play Americans. People are screaming in your ears for three or four hours. What can you do about this? You can’t complain about the public. This is just part of the game.”
Munar doesn’t agree on this fact: “At the US Open, it’s a full-on show, but people experience it more as spectators, not with excessive fanaticism. This year, I played a great match against Fritz in Miami. The crowd supported him from start to finish, and it didn’t bother me for a second. In Australia, it’s similar. But I think here in France, the flag ‘weighs too much,’ and sometimes there are no limits anymore. I don’t like to say that, but I think they could calm down a bit and let the game unfold normally.”
Fils had the final word to summarize the story: “I think that the French public is one of the best, if not the best, and that’s just the way it is.”
