Playing in front of a hostile crowd can be a player’s worst nightmare, especially when persistent heckling starts getting in the way of the tennis. Arthur Rinderknech, however, isn’t exactly the type to quietly put up with it. And when the noise kept coming during his second-round clash with Juan Manuel Cerundolo at the Cincinnati Open, the Frenchman decided to answer back.

During a crucial moment, Rinderknech won the point, turned toward the stands, and delivered a mocking roar of his own at the hecklers. If they wanted his attention, they certainly got it, but perhaps not in the way they expected.

“Vamos, Juanma,” shouted at the crowd, mocking the Argentine’s supporters. The Frenchman had made his complaints known to the chair umpire before, but that did not stop the fans from showing their loyalties, as they continued to cheer for Cerundolo and disrupt Rinderknech’s game, which caused the Frenchman to have the outburst, having broken back to tie the third set at 4-4.

Following his outburst, Rinderknech could not build on any momentum. Having tied the third set at 4-4, the match went to a deciding set tiebreak. The Frenchman had a 4-2 lead, but Cerundolo won four consecutive points to have a match point at 6-4. Rinderknech saved one on the Argentine’s serve, but then lost the next point on his own serve to lose the match.

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Earlier in the match, Rinderknech had a great start, breaking the Argentine’s serve in the very first game and then holding on to win the first set 6-4. Despite getting six break points in the second set, the Frenchman could not take his chance and lost the set in the tiebreak. Even in the third set, it was the French star who got the early break, but could not hold on to the lead. The distractions caused by hecklers certainly disrupted the whole momentum of the match for the French Pro.

Notably, heckling has become an increasingly familiar part of the tennis experience, as seen recently when Jakub Mensik had to raise the issue with the chair umpire during the Canadian Open. On that occasion, the chair umpire, Greg Allensworth, took the lead in calming the fans. “Sir at the back of the court, the players have excellent coaches to get them through the match, so please stop. Thank you,” stated the Chair umpire.

However, for Rinderknech, this was not the first time the French player had taken the court before a hostile crowd. The Frenchman even came to his opponents’ assistance to tackle unruly fans.

Arthur Rinderknech Has Played in Hostile Crowds Before

Being a French player, Rinderknech is no stranger to hostile crowds, especially at the French Open, although the hostilities in those instances are reserved for his opponents. Back at the 2023 French Open, the crowd on Philippe Chatrier really took it to Taylor Fritz, who was playing Rinderkench, prompting the American to silence the entire arena when he won the match.

The following year, at Roland Garros, Rinderknech had another incident, though the fans were not involved. Frustrated with his mid-match slump against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, the home favorite kicked an ad board, injuring himself. That did not allow him to continue in the match, forcing him to withdraw.

Rinderknech has also come to the defense of his opponents against heckling. The Frenchman played Felix Auger-Aliassime in Mallorca last year, where the Canadian was being abused by fans in French. Due to the language barrier, the chair umpire was unaware of the matter, but it was Rinderknech who confirmed Auger-Aliassime’s complaints to the umpire, mutually stopping the match till the fans were taken out of the arena.

Rinderknech would have liked a deeper run in the tournament before the US Open, but the Frenchman struggled to go deep at the Cincinnati Masters. He has not been able to hit top gear this season, reaching three quarterfinals and not getting past the third round at any of the Slams.