‘Idiots’ – Martina Navratilova Shuts Down French Open Audience for Booing Alize Cornet

In a shocking turn of events, French tennis star Alize Cornet retired midway through her third-round match at Roland Garros 2022. Playing against Qinwen Zheng in a bid to qualify for the fourth round, Cornet struggled and lost the first set. Midway through the second set, she suffered an injury that forced her to retire. Disappointed by these events, the French crowd started showing their displeasure by booing her, leaving Cornet in tears.

Many renowned pundits and former players showed their disappointment over the incident. Particularly, the behavior of the French crowd did not impress American tennis legend Martina Navratilova, as she portrayed her displeasure with strong words on Twitter.

Martina Navratilova slams French audience

Taking to Twitter, Navratilova retweeted the original tweet of renowned American author, Sohrab Homi Fracis who had called out the French crowd. She wrote, “Idiots. And maybe more than just a handful….”

Notably, with the exit of Alize Cornet, there are no French players left in this year’s Roland Garros.

Read more: ‘You Have Been Stronger’: Simona Halep Posts Heartwarming Message For Alize Cornet After Breathtaking Battle

Although this fact might have disappointed the crowd, the behavior they showed lacked substance and was in poor taste, according to both Fracis and Navratilova.

Alize Cornet upset over audience behavior

The French tennis star spoke about the incident during the post-match press conference and showed her disappointment. She explained how the crowd’s behavior was more painful than her injury itself. However, she also mentioned that it surely is a rare case and that a handful of people do not represent the entire country.

“The whistles almost hurt more than the injury, when you see what I’ve been giving on the pitch for all these years it’s really unfair,” stated a teary-eyed Cornet.

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Notably, the 32 years old has never retired before in a Grand Slam tournament. Moreover, she was also looking in excellent form until her unfortunate injury. It would have surely been a huge disappointed for the French star and the way the crowd reacted would have surely added to her pain.

Do you agree with Navratilova that the French crowd overreacted? Let us know in the comments.