British star targeted by French Open crowd explains how he shut them up

Jacob Fearnley revealed he was not bothered by home fans cheering on former champion Stan Wawrinka because he doesn't understand French.

The British No.2 won 7-6 6-3 6-2 to gain Scottish revenge on the Swiss star who beat Andy Murray here last year.

And the victory continued Fearnley's habit of winning matches in hostile atmospheres after beating at the Australian Open and Fabio Fognini at the Rome Masters.

Wawrinka is not French but the 2015 champion enjoys great support here.

And Fearnley, who is making his French Open debut, said: "It was difficult. The crowd were definitely on Stan's side. Rightly so. I kind of expected that going in. I knew it was going to be a tough crowd. Stan, those big guys that have been very successful on the tour, they have that kind of aura about them in a way.

"I knew it was going to be a tough match. It's difficult, for sure, playing in front of the crowd always screaming his name. Yeah, it's not easy. Obviously that court (Court 14) kind of feels quite close.

"A lot of it was in French. There was a lot of guys that were talking to me. I knew that they were supporting Stan. Honestly, it was mostly in French. They could have been saying nice things, but I doubt it!

"I really enjoyed it, to be honest. I think part of the battle was just not letting that kind of get to my head and not letting his name and his calibre of tennis get into my head. Just focus on myself really.

"But I really enjoyed it. Some tough moments. Yeah, I can definitely sit here and say it was a great day, for sure."

The world No.55 will now test his game and lack of linguistic comprehension against French No.22 seed Ugo Humbert. "Played Kyrgios in Australia, that was really difficult at times," said the Scot.

"That was loud. That was a bit obnoxious, for sure. Yeah, honestly I enjoy the environment. As long as they keep speaking French, I don't understand what they're saying. That helps, as well!

Fearnley added: "I don't really use it as fuel, to be honest, unless obviously they start saying kind of personal stuff. That's never really been the case. It's been loud all the matches I played. They've been loud.

"It was the same when I was playing (Novak) Djokovic in Wimbledon. They wanted me to win. Maybe not quite as much as the Australian fans wanted Kyrgios to win. Still, I just kind of expect it.

"You see the way I act on the court. I never really react angry or anything like that. I kind of just expect it and, yeah, move on."