During a match break at the Laver Cup on Friday, a climate protester took to the court and set his arm on fire.
The protester, who was wearing a T-shirt saying ‘End UK private jets’, set fire to themselves at the O2 Arena before being quickly removed by security.
The incident took place as players Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman briefly swapped ends of the court.
Following the conclusion of the fixture, Tsitsipas commented on the incident, saying: “He came out of nowhere.”
In the process, the protester also set fire to the playing surface, which was left with a mark as play resumed shortly after the man was removed.
The protestor appeared unharmed as he quickly set out the fire at the Laver Cup.
This is not the first time at a high profile sporting event that climate protests have taken place.
This year alone more than four occasions of climate focused protests have taken place at sporting events.
At this year’s Tour De France, French environmental activist group Dernière Rénovation took to the road.
During stage ten of the tour members of the group appeared to have tied themselves together and sat in the road during the race.
They similarly wore t-shirts signaling a message which said “We have 989 days left” in an attempt to draw attention to the climate crisis and how little time the world has left to tackcle the crisis.
As the evening session continued players also bid farewell to Roger Federer, 41, the 20-time grand slam champion.
He played his final match as a professional tennis player at the lit up O2 Arena alongside fellow rivals and friends, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Packed with thousands of fans the arena was sold out for the evening session as fans gathered to catch Federer on court one last time.
Image credit: Jess Adams
