Climate protesters delay Madison Keys' win over Sorana Cirstea in Rome - The Independent
Climate protesters delay Madison Keys’ win over Sorana Cirstea in Rome | The Independent
Climate protesters delay Madison Keys’ win over Sorana Cirstea in Rome
Two members of environmental protest group Ultima Generazione ran on to the court wearing orange vests and threw confetti.
Pa Sport Staff
Climate protesters forced two matches to be suspended at the Italian Open on Monday, including Madison Keys’ last-16 win against Sorana Cirstea.
Two members of environmental protest group Ultima Generazione ran on to the court wearing orange vests and threw confetti, while other activists glued themselves to the stands.
A statement on the Italian Open website read: “With the public very angry against the demonstrators, the police officers and firefighters also arrived.
“One of the demonstrators had moved onto the lawn under the big screen of (Court) Pietrangeli. He was taken away by the police.”
Keys was leading 6-2 3-1 when the match was temporarily suspended, with the players returning to the locker room; after play resumed the 18th-seeded American went on to win the second set 6-1.
Play was also interrupted by protestors on Court 12, where Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin were playing a second-round doubles match against Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic.
Britain’s Cameron Norrie bowed out of the tournament after losing his second-round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets, 6-2 7-6 (1).
Norrie, the 27th seed, recovered from a break down in the second set to force a tie-break, but Greece’s Tsitsipas showed greater patience in the extended rallies and came out on top.
Australia’s ninth seed Alex de Minaur will play Tsitsipas in the round of 16 after beating Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7 (2) 6-4 6-4, while French qualifier Alexandre Muller was a surprise 3-6 6-3 6-2 winner against fourth seed Andrey Rublev.
In the women’s event, Naomi Osaka lost her last-16 match 6-2 6-3 to China’s Zheng Qinwen, the Australian Open runner-up in January, who will play Coco Gauff after she beat Spain’s Paula Badosa 5-7 6-4 6-1.
Keys will face top seed Iga Swiatek in the last eight after the world number one’s 7-5 6-3 victory over Angelique Kerber.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate diplomacy
Talks are well underway in preparation for the next major international meeting on climate change, 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), scheduled to begin Nov. 30 in the United Arab Emirates.
Much like last year’s COP27, finances — specifically, aid to developing nations — will be at the center of conference deliberations.
The conference faces an even greater sense of urgency brought on by the Sept. 8, 2023, release of the first global stocktake, which calls for accelerated action to meet the goals set in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement (COP21).
Climate diplomacy: COP 27 | Climate diplomacy: COP 28 | Climate diplomacy: COP 29