Novak Djokovic's bid to reach a 40th Grand Slam semi-final was held up Wednesday when 5,000 fans had to be shunted away at the French Open to conform with a Covid-19 curfew.
Djokovic was 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 3-2 ahead in his quarter-final against Matteo Berrettini when play was halted just before 11pm to allow spectators to leave.
Some fans chanted: "We are going to stay, we are going to stay" before they relented and filed out of Court Philippe Chatrier.
"We paid €500 euros for two-and-a-half sets of a match. It's unacceptable," said one man watching the quarter-final with his wife and two children.
"They should have started at 7pm and not 8pm."
Wednesday was the 10th and final evening session of the tournament.
World No 1 Djokovic went on to win the final set 7-5 to set up a potential mouth-watering semi-final showdown with defending champion Rafa Nadal.
