Climate Protesters Interrupt Keys vs. Carstea Italian Open Match

Summary:

• A climate crisis protest group forced the play to stop during Madison Keys’ win against Sorana Cirstea.
• Members of the group threw confetti on the clay courts and attempted to glue themselves to the stands.
• Protestors also stopped the doubles match play on Court Pietrangeli.

Several Italian Open matches were interrupted on Monday by Last Generation, a group of protestors lobbying against the climate change crisis.

One of the targeted events was the match between Madison Keys and Sorana Carstea which the American won 6-2, 6-1.

The group stopped the play for almost an hour after throwing confetti onto the clay courts and attempting to glue themselves to the stands.

“Should I go Tackle Them?”

Commenting on the incident, Keys jokingly said that she had been tempted to tackle the ­protesters given the large number of matches they had interrupted during the championship.

The player explained that, as soon as she saw them cross the barrier, her first thought was if she should tackle them.

I stopped myself and then the chair [umpire] started yelling at me to go sit down. Unfortunately, it’s starting to become a bit of a common thing that’s happening.

The player took the opportunity to get off the court and “regroup”.

Simultaneously, other members of the same group stopped play on Court Pietrangeli, where a doubles match was unfolding.

Their attempt to do the same on the Grandstand, the second biggest court in Rome, failed before they could even enter the court.

Keys, who is getting ready to play against top seed Iga Świątek in the Madrid Open semi-finals rematch, emphasized that safety should be the primary concern when on the court, suggesting a ban on “cement and glue from bags” might be “a start”.

Świątek managed to edge past Angelique Kerber’s impressive 7-5, 6-3.

Other Results

In the meanwhile, Naomi Osaka’s exciting run ended in the fourth round when she was outlasted 6-2, 6-4 by Australian Open finalist and seventh seed, Zheng Qinwen.

Qinwen will play against third-seed Coco Gauff next. The latter defeated Paula Badosa 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.

Aryna Sabalenka won against Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7).

Earlier in the final set, the number two seed received treatment for a back injury and successfully completed her comeback win.

Next in line, she will face ex-French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. The latter came from behind to defeat Rebecca Sramkova 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas outclassed Cameron Norrie 6-2, 7-6 (1) during the third round.