Casper Ruud vs Marin Cilic stopped as protester chains herself to net during French Open | Tennis | Sport
Marin Cilic and Casper Ruud’s French Open semi-final was briefly stopped after a protester chained herself to the on-court net. Ruud was 4-1 up in the third set when cameras panned on him as he appeared distracted by something before his serve.
Pictures then quickly saw a woman making her way onto the court and tying herself to the net. The woman appeared to be a part of the French activists Derniere Renovation. They tweeted: “22-year-old Alizée stepped onto the tennis court during the Ruud-Cilic semi-final to draw attention to the climate emergency and the demand for the Last Renovation campaign.”
On their website, a brief statement from Alizee was released following her move onto the court. It read: “We are in 2022 and it is time to face reality, the world to which politicians are sending us is a world to which Roland Garros will no longer be able to exist.
“Today, I entered the field because I can no longer take the risk of doing nothing in the face of the climate emergency”.
The crowd inside Court Philippe-Chatrier made their feelings known as they booed and jeered at the scenes. Security at the French Open were taking their time in removing the woman from the court with both players retreating to the changing room.
Tim Henman was stunned by what he had seen out on the French Open court and feels it will affect both players.
“Some really shocking scenes,” Henman said. “She jumped on the court, sat down next to the net and seems like she’s attached herself to the net and obviously had something written on her shirt.
“It’s very horrible circumstances for the players. It’s obviously one of their biggest matches and now you’ve got an interruption midway through this third set.”
He added: “The players have rightly been taken off the court but it wasn’t as if they picked up their bags, I think they were just taken away. “It’s up to the security to get things under control. But it’s not what you’re expecting.
“We were so shocked to see the Zverev situation and having to retire from such a big match with such a horrific injury and now we get onto the second match and we’re midway through in the third set. It’s all very unsettling for everyone.”
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