Players call for sponsorship boards removal after injury

Britain's Katie Boulter has led calls for the French Open to remove on-court sponsorship boards after Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez said tripping over one left her needing stitches.

Sonmez had to retire from her doubles match on Friday after colliding with one of the foot-high signs while chasing a ball.

The 24-year-old said was left with a bruised knee after the incident and needed two stitches.

"Do we really have to wait until a player is seriously injured before these courtside boards are removed?" Sonmez wrote on social media.

"Player safety must come first."

Boulter escaped injury in a similar incident during her singles match on Thursday, but said the advertisement blocks are an unnecessary hazard.

"These things have to go," Boulter wrote. "[I] got lucky last night but next time I might not be."

Four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek and Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk, who said she does not chase some balls due to fear of injury, also said the boards should be removed.

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has been contacted for comment.

Sonmez is not the first player to be injured because of the tight space behind the Roland Garros baselines.

The Paris heatwave has produced firmer, bouncier courts, meaning players want to stand further behind the baseline to receive serve.

Belgium's Alexander Blockx was forced to withdraw from the men's singles earlier this week after spraining his right ankle when he landed on a tarpaulin rain cover at the Jean Bouin practice facility, a short walk from Roland Garros.

Blockx said on social media he "heard a snap" in his ankle and sarcastically blamed the "really necessary" covers.

The world number 37 later edited his post to remove the reference to the covers.

As well as sponsorship boards and covers, there has also been another obstacle on Roland Garros' smaller outdoor courts - line judges.

The French Open is the only major tournament that still has line judges.

Both ATP and WTA Tours use electronic line calling and Argentina's Juan Manuel Cerundolo says it is "very tough" for the players to adjust to.

Cerundolo beat Britain's Jacob Fearnley on a smaller court, where line judges had to nimbly move out of his way, before knocking out top seed Jannik Sinner on Court Philippe Chatrier.

"It is weird to play with line judges - especially on the shorter courts," Cerundolo told BBC Sport.

"I played all my life with line judges but now over the last year we played without them so it is very different.

"You have to be ready to not hit them and say 'please go back and move to the side'. You have to adapt again."