The French crowd are well known for getting on the backs of those facing their own stars and it seems Goffin felt the wrath this evening as he took down the Lyon champion.
In the end, he claimed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 win and now faces Alexander Zverev. But most striking of all was his post match words as he described being spat at with chewing gum during the tie.
He also said that he wasn’t the only one who has had such complaints with him saying that no other Grand Slam including Wimbledon, US Open or Australian Open is like this. Cutting words indeed from the former top star.
"When you're insulted for 3.5 hours, you have to annoy the public a little. Clearly, it goes too far. It's total disrespect. Some people are there more to make a mess than to make a mess of things. atmosphere today, someone spat their gum at me,” he said as translated from French.
“A lot of people are complaining. It's the echo that there is in the locker room and in the ATP authorities. I think that it only happens in France. At Wimbledon there is not that. In Australia either. The US Open is rather quiet here.”
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David Goffin : "Quand on se fait insulter pendant 3h30, il faut bien charrier un peu le public. Clairement, ça va trop loin. C'est de l'irrespect total. Certains sont plus là pour foutre le bordel que pour mettre l'ambiance. Aujourd'hui, quelqu'un m'a craché son chewing-gum."