MELBOURNE – Alejandro Davidovich Fokina criticised the behaviour of a group of spectators who insulted him during his second-round match at the Kia Arena.
“Four drunk idiots — we don’t even know if they were betting. They were extremely disruptive. There are respectful people who know how to support a player, but there are always four idiots who don’t respect anything and are always there causing trouble,” said the Spanish No. 2.
The world No. 14’s frustration peaked after an obscene gesture was directed at him from the stands during his 6–3, 7–6(3), 5–7, 4–6, 6–4 win over North American Reilly Opelka.
The incident occurred in the fourth set, with the crowd vocally backing Opelka. “The crowd wanted to see a fifth set. That can happen here or anywhere in the world, but there were four drunk idiots I couldn’t do anything about,” he said.
Another tense moment came in the second-set tiebreak, when Davidovich Fokina slipped and then confronted a fan shouting in support of the United States. “What ‘USA’, you idiot!” he snapped.
He later addressed the episode in his press conference: “It wasn’t fair to me that they celebrated that point because I could have twisted it worse. It was a minor slip and I felt no pain, but in the end it wasn’t fair to celebrate because it was basically a free point for him.”
Chinada histórica de Davidovich Fokina.
“Que dices de USA GILIPOLLAS”
Este tío es mi padre pic.twitter.com/fGD6msy131
— EL MANICOMIO DE FOKINA 🤪🎾 (@Miguelcmm1) January 21, 2026
Davidovich’s complaints once again bring the debate over crowd behaviour at Grand Slam tournaments to the forefront. While Australia has drawn repeated criticism from players for installing bar terraces next to secondary courts, Roland Garros was forced to ban the sale of alcohol inside the venue in 2024.
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