The French Open featured an awkward situation on Friday night as a 22-year-old woman ran onto the court and tied herself onto the net and knelt down on the surface before she was removed by the security staff. The woman, named Alizée, wanted to draw attention to the climate changes that are affecting the world.
On her shirt, Alizée had written: “WE HAVE 1028 DAYS LEFT.” The match between Casper Ruud and Marin Cilic was interrupted briefly in the third set and continued after Alizée was removed from the court.
Alizée is a member of French activist group Derniere Renovation. “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,” Derniere Renovation said in a statement.
Alizée: We are entering the world in which Roland Garros will not exist
“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,” Alizée said in a statement. Ruud, who defeated Cilic in four sets, called the situation “akward” and “tricky.”
“(I was) a bit scared, honestly,” Ruud said. “I didn’t really know what was going on. When it comes to this protest, it was a little bit – what should I say – nasty is maybe a good word. I didn’t really know how to react to it, and I didn’t know if – because I only saw her back.
I didn’t know if she was holding anything or what was around her neck. 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. So we were taken [off the court] for six, seven minutes and I got to regroup a little bit and got my flow going again”.
