A protester lights a fire on the court on day one of the Laver Cup at the O2 Arena, London. PA Images/Alamy Images

Activist sets court, self on fire at Laver Cup

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 9/23/22

The biggest headline all week leading up to the Laver Cup has been Friday's highly anticipated doubles match including the pairing of Rafael Nadal and the retiring Roger Federer. Hours before Nadal and Federer were scheduled to take the court together for one last time, a scary scene unfolded at the O2 Arena.

A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 23 September 2022. epa / Andy Rain
#climatechange #lavercup #O2Arena #protest #fire #epaimages pic.twitter.com/mzXBWeTZOJ
— european pressphoto agency (@epaphotos) September 23, 2022

The spectacle briefly delayed the start of the second set of the match between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman. According to an ESPN report, the activist was carrying a lighter and wearing a white T-shirt with a message about private jets and "made his way onto the black court and sat down near the net," before being carried away by security guards.