"Not fair on the players"- Former Serena Williams coach terms booing players at the French Open for wanting to check ball marks an 'injustice' 

Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou expressed his dissatisfaction with the booing directed at the players who wanted to check ball marks during matches at the ongoing French Open.

Several matches at this year's French Open have witnessed the crowd provoking players and eliciting angry or frustrated reactions from them. The crowd's reactions have sometimes not taken into consideration whether the player's actions were abiding by the rules or not.

Mourtaglou argued that players have the right to request a review if they believe a ball mark decision was incorrect. Expressing his views on social media, the 52-year-old highlighted that players experience a sense of double injustice when the crowd opposes them while requesting a review.

"Since the start of the season I noticed that every time a player is asking for a chair umpire to check the mark, the crowd is booing him non stop, looks like the player is doing something so wrong and so bad. I think it's not fair on the players because I think when they're asking to check a mark, it's because they feel that there was a mistake, so they already feel so bad. So when they ask to check and then the umpire checks which is completely in their right, and then the crowd starts booing them it becomes another injustice, which is twice in a row, which is really really bad," Mouratoglou said.

The French coach emphasized the importance of umpires speaking up to educate the crowd and that it is a normal practice for players to request a mark check and that they should not be subjected to booing as a result.

"Honestly, if a player does it 20 times in a row and it starts to be annoying, I can understand. But sometimes they are right, everyone can make a mistake, the lines person can make a mistake, the chair umpire can make a mistake, and we are lucky on clay there are some marks and the player asks for the mark to be checked. I think it's important to raise a voice and say that 'guys it is normal for a player to ask to check the mark'. There is nothing wrong about that and players don't deserve to be booed for that," Mouratoglou added.

Earlier at the French Open this year, World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev was met with booing from the crowd when he requested a mark check from the umpire. The Russian reacted angrily and asked the crowd to shut up. Tunisian No. 1 Ons Jabeur also faced criticism for mark checking during her match against French favourite Oceane Dodin.

Patrick Mouratoglou spotted in Holger Rune's team at the French Open even after their recent split

2023 French Open - Day Nine

Patrick Mouratoglou, who had previously ended his coaching relationship with Holger Rune in early April, was recently seen supporting the young Dane during matches at the 2023 French Open.

The French coach was first spotted reuniting with Rune before his quarterfinal match against Novak Djokovic at the Italian Open. The nature of their current relationship, whether temporary or a reconciliation, remains unknown. The sixth-seeded Rune recently managed to overcome an intense fourth round battle against Francisco Cerundolo with Mouratoglou in his box.

Rune's next opponent will be last year's runner-up, Casper Ruud. It will be intriguing to observe if this renewed partnership with Mouratoglou can lead to success, and whether the the 20-year-old can claim his first Grand Slam title at the 2023 French Open.