David Goffin: Tennis star outraged after fan spits chewing gum on him during match

David Goffin has expressed his outrage after a fan spat chewing gum on him from the stands at the Stade Roland Garros during a Round of 128 match in the Tennis French Open.

He said he had been ‘insulted for three and a half hours’ by members of the audience before the incident took place - he responded in kind, cupping his ear to them as they greeted the 33-year-old with a loud chorus of boos. Nevertheless, Goffin described being spat on as ‘total disrespect’ and worries that one day ‘soon there will be smoke bombs, hooligans and there will be fights in the stands’.

Despite the incident, Goffin emerged victorious, defeating home country hero Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard by three sets to two. Perricard won the first set, but the Belgian was able to claw it back to 2-1 over the next two sets. Perricard won set four, but Goffin held his nerve to win the final set and the match.

In a post match interview, Goffin told Eurosport: "When you are insulted for three and a half hours, you have to tease the public a little. Clearly, it goes too far, it's total disrespect. 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 become ridiculous. Some people are there more to cause trouble than to create an atmosphere. Someone spat out their chewing gum at me. It [the match] was getting complicated. That's why I wanted to stay calm. If I started to get angry about it, it could have destabilised me.

"This is repeated a lot in the locker room and among the ATP authorities. We're going to have to do something about that. I think it only happens in France. At Wimbledon, obviously, there's not that. Or in Australia either. And at the US Open, it's still rather quiet. Here [at Roland-Garros], it's really an unhealthy atmosphere."