Days after Mona Lisa was obscured by a cake smear, not so far from the Louvre museum in Paris, the Roland Garros got its climate protest on full display on Saturday during the second men's singles semi-final between Casper Ruud of Norway and Marin Cilic of Croatia. (More Tennis News)
An activist wearing a T-shirt with the message “We have 1028 days left” interrupted the French Open match by tying herself to the net with metal wires.
Watch it here:
The play was delayed for 13 minutes during a game with Ruud serving in the third set while leading 3-6, 6-4, 4-1, 15-all at Court Philippe Chatrier.
“The young woman, of French nationality, entered the grounds with a valid ticket early in the day,” the French Tennis Federation said in a statement issued after Ruud finished off his victory in four sets to reach his first Grand Slam final.
During the interruption, both the players were escorted to the locker room. The protester was eventually carried off by security guards even as tournament director Amelie Mauresmo looked on from near the entrance to the court.
"The security team needed to formally identify the objects she used to get onto the court before they could remove her," the federation said, adding that she was “handed over to the police.”
Ruud, who became the first-ever Norwegian man to enter the final of a Grand Slam tournament, will face 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal for the title on Sunday.
I didn't really know how to react to it, and ... I didn't know if she was holding anything," Ruud said later. "I didn't get to see too much. So it was a little bit (of a) tricky and difficult situation. Never happened to me before.”
Cilic, the former US Open champion, said the disruption did not affect his level of play.
This is not the first instance of interruption at the French Open.
During the 2013 men's singles final, a topless man carrying a fiery flare jumped onto the court.
In the 2009 final, a man went up to Roger Federer and tried to put a hat on his head. In the 2003 final, a male streaker hurdled the net.
Not so far away from Roland Garros, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, Mona Lisa was smeared with cake in an in apparent climate protest.
A 36-year-old man has since been arrested and placed in psychiatric care.
Speaking in French, the man said: “There are people who are destroying the Earth … All artists, think about the Earth. That’s why I did this. Think of the planet.”
