The tennis spectacle of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, the ATP and WTA Masters 1,000 in Rome, is tarnished by some spectators who don't respect the players. And sadly, we have seen a few episodes of disrespect towards some players from the crowd. Jakub Mensik, in a match against Fábián Marozsán, had to approach some spectators in the crowd who were scolding him.
Japanese player Yoshihito Nishioka responded a post on X to a video from a Jakub Mensik Fanpage, recalling that in 2023, in a second round defeat against home favourite Lorenzo Sonego, he was also insulted. "Italian fans screamed "let's go Sushi" , this year someone call me "come on China" both of between the game. I know this is only few people do but many times in Rome".
<social>https://x.com/JakubMensikFan/status/1922036370752655840</social>
It was not an isolated incident. In a match between Aryna Sabalenka and Zhen Qinwen, the Belorussian player shouted "shut the f* off" towards an spectator who did not stop scolding her. It happens more frequently when an Italian player is playing: in the match between Daniil Medvedev and Lorenzo Musetti, or the one between Diana Shnaider and Jasmine Paolini, officials asked the crowd to be quiet several times.