Paris: Garbine Muguruza`s defence of her French Open title ended in tears on Sunday when the Spaniard had to be escorted from the Roland Garros interview room after breaking down following her fourth-round loss to Kristina Mladenovic.
The 23-year-old Muguruza had been complaining about the vocal and fiercely partisan crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen during her match against France`s Mladenovic when she was overcome by emotion.
"I think the crowd today was a little bit obviously tough for me. I understand. I just think that they were a little bit, sometimes should be a little bit more respectful," the 2016 champion told the gathered journalists.
"I`m not here to create enemies. I mean, I love playing here."
A couple of questions later, as tears rolled down Muguruza`s cheeks and she bowed her head, the moderator interrupted the news conference after asking the Spaniard if she needed a break.
Muguruza, who lost 6-1 3-6 6-3, came back after a minute and said she would take any question.
"We`re here for the good and for the bad," she explained. "I love this tournament, no matter what happens."
Asked again about the French crowd`s behaviour, she said: "If you had been in my shoes on the court, I think you would have understood. I don`t know what people were expecting. I`d rather not say anything more."
Muguruza, however, said she was relieved her tournament was over, having had to cope with the immense pressure of defending the title in Paris.
"It`s going to sound weird but I`m actually happy that this stage of the year is done because I wanted to go as far as possible," she said.
"But even if I didn`t, I think I`m going to feel much better now to continue the year and everybody is going to stop bothering me asking me about this tournament, so it`s going to be a little bit like, `Whew, let`s keep going`."
