Katie Boulter Calls For French Open To Remove Advertising Boards On Courts

Katie Boulter has called for the French Open to remove advertising boards at the back of courts after a doubles player tripped over one and was forced to retire.

Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez had played only two games of her second-round women’s doubles match on court six when, chasing a ball, she caught her foot on one of the foot-high Lacoste signs and fell into the back fence.

British number three Boulter felt lucky to avoid a similar fate after also falling during her second-round singles loss to Anastasia Potapova on court 13.

“THESE THINGS HAVE TO GO,” wrote Boulter on X. “Got lucky last night but next time I might not be.”

When she heard about Sonmez, who was unable to continue after suffering the injury, Boulter wrote: “Omg! Not again!”

Sonmez also took to social media, saying: “I stand with Katie. 5 incidents in 5 days. I left the court with 2 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.”

Players are now used to having more space at the back of the court, with nearly all tournaments switching from human line judges to electronic calling.

But at Roland Garros, not only are there still line judges, the court covers are also folded up at the back behind the Lacoste boards, which can leave little room for manoeuvre on the small outside courts.

Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk revealed she refuses to chase certain balls because she is so concerned about potential injury.

“It’s terrible,” she said. “I had one moment in the previous match when she played a really deep lob and I was really far back.

“Usually I just let it go. I don’t play this ball fully because I prefer to lose the point than get injured. And I’m obviously very sorry for Zeynep. Hopefully it’s nothing very serious.”

Belgian Alexander Blockx was forced to withdraw from the tournament ahead of his second-round match after twisting his ankle on the court covers at the practice facilities.

Blockx’s coach Ruben Bemelmans told The Athletic they are considering a compensation claim, saying: “Players have complained about the safety of those courts for a while.”

Tournament organisers have been contacted for comment.

Published: 29/05/2026 by Radio NewsHub