The French Open has imposed a booze ban after repeated complaints from players about rowdy and sometimes dangerous crowd behaviour.

Roland Garros tournament director Amelie Mauresmo announced the ban on Thursday.

“We’re happy people are enthusiastic about watching tennis and being part of the matches, showing feeling and emotions,” she said.

“But there are definitely steps which shouldn’t go further. A few things have needed to be put in place.

“Alcohol was allowed until now in the stands but that’s over… If they exceed the limit, if they don’t behave well or if they throw things at the players, that’s it.”

It follows repeated complaints from players about the noise from spectators, and other boisterous behaviour.

Belgian David Goffin accused partisan French Open fans of “total disrespect” when he took on a local favourite in the first round and said one of them had spat gum at him. Goffin was also loudly booed when he beat local hope Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round.

Elsewhere, world N0.1 Iga Swiatek urged spectators not to scream during rallies.

“I have huge respect for you guys and I know that we are playing basically for you, because it’s entertainment and we’re also earning money because of you,” she said.

“But sometimes under a lot of pressure when you scream stuff during the rally or right before the return it’s really, really hard to be focused.”

On Thursday, Novak Djokovic complained to a chair umpire that a man in the front row had called out while he was chasing down a drop-shot.

In typical Roland Garros fashion, that prompted a chorus of jeers from the crowd, who loved baiting the champ in his first-round win over French wildcard Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

“He shouted actually a few words during the rally,” Djokovic said.

“He was there in the first row, and he started from the beginning of the match.

“He went on several times, which was fine, supporting my opponent. But I thought that this was a bit of a hindrance as he was so close and then, as I was about to hit the ball, he was shouting.

“So that’s what I asked the chair umpire, but he explained that he cannot call that a hindrance.

“Look, they are very passionate fans. At times they are not easy and I have been having some love affairs with the fans here.

“I have experienced both sides.”

Later Mauresmo – a former world No.1 – said drastic measures were needed to rein in the rowdy crowds.

“Alcohol was allowed until now in the stands but that’s over… If they exceed the limit, if they don’t behave well or if they throw things at the players, that’s it,” she said.

Mauresmo said umpires had been told to be stricter with crowd behaviour. Security would also step in if fans misbehaved.

“Let’s see how it goes with the [umpires] being a little bit more strict. Let’s see how it goes with the security being also a little bit more strict,” she said.

Mauresmo said authorities were still trying to identify the person who spat gum at Goffin.

The Belgian, who was knocked out by Alexander Zverev on Thursday, welcomed the alcohol ban, saying: “Hopefully it’s good what Amelie did because if they continue like that, you never know.

“Maybe the spectators said ‘OK, it was fine this year. Maybe we go for it for more next year and then the year after is going even for more’.

“You never know what they’re going to do, if they’re going to come with firecrackers.”

Daniil Medvedev smiled about the difficulty of playing French players in front of their home fans but reckoned it was no worse than playing against an Aussie in Melbourne.

“I think playing French [players] in Roland Garros is not easy, that’s for sure. A lot of players experience it,” he said on Thursday.

“I would say that in US Open and Wimbledon is not the same. Australia can be tough. I played Thanasi [Kokkinakis] once there [in 2018] on the small court. It was, whew, brutal!

“It’s good to have energy between points, but then when you’re ready to serve, it’s okay, let’s finish it and let’s play tennis.”

-with AAP