Climate protester sets himself on fire in front of crowd before Roger Federer’s final match at O2
23 September 2022, 19:07 | Updated: 23 September 2022, 19:09
A climate protester set himself on fire on a tennis court at the O2 in shocking scenes just before the start of Roger Federer’s last ever match at the venue.
The opening session of this year's Laver Cup was disrupted during the second match of the competition at the O2 where Team Europe's Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman of Team World clashed in a singles tie.
After Tsitsipas had won the first set 6-2, the spectator ran onto court during the changeover and set his arm on fire.
Security staff were able to put the fire out after a short time before ushering the man away.
World number six Tsitsipas said: "It came out of nowhere. I have no idea what this is all about. I never had an incident like this happen on court. I hope he is all right.
"I wanted to proceed the match without having any minor changes to the court and to make sure it was playable, especially that area. It also got in my way of viewing experience, the way I saw the court later.
“There was a big mark over there and I just wanted to get it cleared up."
Roger Federer will bring his professional career to an end at the O2 later with a doubles contest alongside old sparring partner Rafael Nadal.
The protester was wearing a t-shirt which read 'End UK Private Jets' before he was taken away.
