Katie Boulter demands French Open remove controversial obstacle after ‘luckily’ avoiding injury

Katie Boulter has called on the French Open to remove advertising hoardings at the back of courts amid concerns over player safety.

The Brit suffered a second-round defeat at Roland-Garros on Thursday as she fell to a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 defeat to Anastasia Potapova.

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Boulter‘s exit means there are no British players remaining in either the men’s and women’s singles competitions in Paris.

Francesca Jones also lost in the second round, while Emma Raducanu, Cameron Norrie, Jacob Fearnley and Toby Samuel went out in round one.

Despite Boulter edging the first set, Potapova fought back to clinch the next two and reach the third round.

But Boulter’s frustrations after the match were less to do with performance, and more the playing conditions at the French Open.

‘Have to go’

A row at Roland Garros has broken out after several players have tripped over the concrete blocks – adorned with ‘Lacoste’ branding – beyond the baseline at the clay court major.

Turkish doubles player Zeynep Sonmez had to retire from her match in the second round after she injured herself tripping over the hoarding when chasing a ball, just two games into her match.

The 24-year-old received treatment from medics for 10 minutes, required stitches and eventually was forced to retire.

Boulter almost suffered a similar fate, as she tripped over a similar block during her match, but managed to avoid injury.

And the British star was quick to highlight the safety risk of the advertising hoarding on social media following her defeat.

After a fan raised the issue in a post, she replied on X: “THESE THINGS HAVE TO GO. Got lucky last night but next time I might not be…”

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Boulter’s post was quickly met with support by her fellow professionals, with Sonmez later weighing in.

The Turkish star wrote on X: “I stand with Katie.

“Five incidents in five days. I left the court with two stitches and a bruised knee. Thankfully, it wasn’t worse.

“Do we really have to wait until a player is seriously injured before these courtside boards are removed? Player safety must come first.”

Major issue

Boulter and Sonmez aren’t the only tennis stars to share their grievances, with Belgian player Alexander Blockx even threatening legal action against the French open.

Blockx injured his ankle during a practise session, tripping on the tarpaulins used to cover the court, which forced him to withdraw from his second-round match against No. 8 seed, Boulter’s fiancé, Alex de Minaur.

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The 21-year-old sarcastically posted on Instagram that he had tripped over the “really necessary” Lacoste blocks, before editing the post.

The Athletic have reported that Ruben Bemelmans, Blockx’s coach, said they will consider seeking compensation after the incident.

Official regulations recommend that the blocks be placed at least six metres behind the baseline, which is the case on courts such as Suzanne-Lenglen or Philippe-Chatrier, but for the smaller courts, there is a greater chance of a collision.

Blockx’s incident took place on the practice courts, while Sonmez was on court six, and Boulter court 13, none of which have ample space.