The French Open semi-final of Marin Cilic and Casper Ruud came to a halt shortly after a protester chained herself to the track net. Ruud was 4-1 up in the third set when the cameras paced him while he seemed distracted by something before his service.
Pictures quickly saw a woman entering the track and tying herself to the net. The woman appeared to be part of the French activist Derniere Renovation. They tweeted: “Alizée, 22, stepped on the tennis court during the Ruud-Cilic semi-final to draw attention to the climate emergency and the demand for the latest renovation campaign.”
A brief statement from Alizee was posted on her website after she went to court. It said: “We are in 2022 and it is time to face reality, the world to which politicians send us is a world in which Roland Garros can no longer exist.
“I entered the camp today because I can no longer run the risk of doing nothing in the face of the climate emergency.”
The crowd inside the Philippe-Chatrier court made their feelings known as they booed and mocked the scenes. The security of the French Open was taking its time to get the woman off the court with the two players retiring to the locker room.
Tim Henman was shocked by what he had seen on the court of the French Open and believes it will affect both players.
“Some really shocking scenes,” Henman said. “He jumped on the track, sat down next to the net and it looks like he got hooked on the net and obviously had something written on his shirt.
“These are very horrible circumstances for the players. It’s obviously one of their most important games and now you have a break halfway through this third set.”
He added: “The players have been right off the pitch, but it wasn’t like they were going to pick up their bags, I think they were taken away.” It’s up to the security to control things. But it’s not what you’re expecting.
“We were very surprised to see Zverev’s situation and have to retire from such a big game with such a horrible injury and now we’re in the second game and we’re halfway through the third set. It’s very disturbing for everyone.”