In Málaga, Spain, the quarter-final round of the Davis Cup was played between the home team of Spain and Croatia. In the first match, Čorič was leading Bautista 6:4, when a pair of protesters entered the court in the second set.
The man and woman tried to tie themselves to the net, but security was faster. Activists with T-shirts emblazoned with “Futuro Vegetal,” the name of a Spanish group dedicated to combating the climate crisis through a plant-based diet, at least lay down on the ground to make handling them more difficult.
The woman was then dragged away by the hands, the man had to be pacified and taken away by security. After a while, however, the confusion stopped and the match could continue. Čorič did not let the incident get him down and in the second set he came out victorious 7:6 in a tie break. Marin Čilič then added a second point against Carreň-Busta and the Spaniards advanced to the semi-finals.
Photo: Joan Monfort, ČTK/AP
Environmental activists stormed the court during the Davis Cup quarterfinals and wanted to chain themselves to the net.Photo: Joan MonfortČTK/AP
This is not the first time a tennis match has been disrupted by environmental activists. During this year’s French Open, the semifinal match between Casper Ruud and Cilic was interrupted by an activist who tied herself to a net. During the Laver Cup match between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman, an activist wanted to set fire to the court and accidentally set fire to his right hand.
