Canadian Open match halted twice for emergencies as medics called to court | Tennis | Sport

Alexander Zverev’s opening match at the Canadian Open was twice suspended due to medical emergencies in the stands. The No. 1 seed got a bye into the second round, where he faced Tallon Griekspoor. Dutchman Griekspoor was able to force a decider after losing a close opening set, but in set three, play was paused twice.

The first interruption came when Zverev was serving at 1-1 15-15. There seemed to be a commotion in the stands, and Griekspoor pointed to the side. “I think there might be some sort of medical situation in the stands, hence the interruption. Chair umpire Aurelie Tourte just heading over to see whether she can help,” commentator Lee Goodall told viewers.

Tourte spoke with some of the fans in French, and Zverev grabbed an ice towel and a bottle of water, bringing it over to the fan in question. “It is a warm one today, we’ve seen the players uding the ice towels,” Goodall said.

“It’s an older gentleman struggling with the heat. Understandable. Sometimes you need the umbrella for the sun as well,” co-commentator Greg Rusedski replied. The ice towel was brought to the spectator and someone who appeared to be a medical official was also seen arriving.

Tourte told the players they could play on while the fan received assistance. “We can play, but they’re doing to stay like this for the match. You’re fine? Okay,” she said. They played one more point, but more assistance arrived in the stands just behind the baseline and there was another brief delay while the spectator was seen to.

Griekspoor soon went a break up, and after the changeover at 3-2 had finished, both players were returning to the baseline when the umpire noticed someone in the crowd had fainted.

“There is someone that fainted in the stands, on Centre Court, right side behind the baseline. We need assistance please. Play is paused,” she said into her walkie-talkie, getting down off her chair.

Goodall told viewers: “Oh dear, we’ve got another medical incident, so there will be a suspension of play, understandably. Aurelie Tourte back out of her chair. She’s working hard in this third set to make sure everyone is okay. Sounds a little bit more serious this time. It can be so easy for fans to overheat in these conditions at this time of year.”

It soon emerged that the person in question had started bleeding, as Tourte radioed for help again. “A person on Centre has fell down and is bleeding and there is a lot of blood on the stands, so we are going to wait for the assistance to arrive,” she said. Addressing the players, the umpire added: “Just going to wait for the paramedics to arrive.”

Play resumed a few minutes later, and Griekspoor moved 4-2 ahead. The top seed soon broke back and levelled the score at 4-4. But the Dutch world No. 69 kept pushing, and broke again in a tense game before closing out a 6-7(3) 6-2 6-4 victory, sending the top seed out of the tournament and blowing the draw wide open.

The top two seeds are now out of the Canadian Open already, as Felix Auger-Aliassime announced his withdrawal earlier on Wednesday. And with Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic missing this event, Alex de Minaur is the highest seed left.

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