Watch: ‘Climate Disaster’ Protestors Throw Giant Balls On Court, Halt Andy Murray-Taylor Fritz Tennis Match

Taylor Fritz on Friday extended his winning streak to six matches on the American hard courts by securing his passage in the semi-finals of the Washington Open. The American battled past three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-4 then returned to breeze past Jordan Thompson. Fritz was not the only player to feature in two matches on Friday at the combined ATP and WTA hardcourt, after rain brought play to a premature end on Thursday. His match against Murray, however, was interrupted due to “Climate Disaster & “End Fossil Fuels” protest.

Protestors threw giant balls on the court and the match was haulted as a result. Fritz and Murray were asked to take a set as the security escorted the protestors out of the court.

The video of the incident has gone viral on social media.

The Taylor Fritz/ Andy Murray match @mubadalacitidc
was just delayed due to protesters. They threw giant balls onto the court and held signs that read “Climate Disaster & “End Fossil Fuels”. @USParkPolice & tournament staff escorted them out, match resumed after 5 min@7NewsDC pic.twitter.com/XniKN3IPNw

— John Gonzalez (@John7News) August 4, 2023

Fritz next faces Tallon Griekspoor, who finished off a rain-disrupted three-set victory over France’s Gael Monfils before beating American J.J. Wolf 7-5, 6-4 in the quarter-finals.

Fritz, ranked ninth in the world, looked anything but fatigued as he raced past Thompson 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 17 minutes.

“I think that the match with Andy earlier was insanely high level. I thought he played really well. I thought he served really well,” Fritz said after his second match of the night.

“It was a war. With how these balls are, they’re so slow, dead, it’s really tough to finish points. You’re going to inevitably have these really long, physical rallies.

“I did a great job to win that. And then I did a really good job to come back and play how I played in that last match.

“I feel like my body probably couldn’t have handled another battle like I had with Andy,” Fritz added.

(With AFP Inputs)