"Oh, does it bother you if we play a match?", Wawrinka's memorable outburst against Placé at Bercy
In 2016, during the first round of the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000, Stan Wawrinka interrupted his match to deliver a sharp tirade at a front-row spectator. According to several witnesses, the spectator was none other than Jean-Vincent Placé, then Secretary of State. Amidst cries, tweets, and public explanations, the episode sparked a controversy blending sports tension and off-court politics.
It was a late evening, the clocks showed midnight, the stands were emptying, but for Stan Wawrinka, the match against Jan-Lennard Struff was far from won. The Swiss player, then world No. 3, was engaged in a tough match, juggling between frustration and fighting spirit.
Between two serves, Wawrinka stopped, turned towards the front row, and forcefully said:
"Oh, does it bother you if we play a match? No, but seriously... It's midnight, if you don't want to watch, you can leave."
According to several people present, the targeted spectator was Jean-Vincent Placé, then Secretary of State in charge of Simplification and State Reform, seated in the front row, in a discussion with Jean Gachassin, the president of the French Tennis Federation at the time.
The next day, Jean-Vincent Placé assured that he did not see it as a provocation: he claimed he was whispering with Gachassin and did not think he was the target. However, he admits that the noise in the room could be disruptive.
But Wawrinka, always ready to defend his stance, responded on Twitter. He denied that it was merely whispers, asserting that he was still ahead in the score, meaning the anger was not due to any disadvantage, and he disputed some details put forward by Placé.
Despite this moment of high tension, the evening ended in defeat for Wawrinka: he lost to Struff in three hard-fought sets (3-6, 7-6, 7-6). But the echo of his "Oh, does it bother you if we play a match?" resonated far beyond the court.
