PARIS — This one's for the birds: A pigeon landed on the court during a Roland Garros match Saturday, leading the chair umpire to use a towel to rescue the fallen fowl.
The pigeon dropped to the red clay at Court Suzanne Lenglen—and remained on the ground—during a changeover in the fourth set of 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev's third-round victory over Tomas Machac at Roland Garros.
“I hope the bird was OK. It was not looking good. I think maybe something (was wrong) with the wing,” Medvedev said. “The referee did a good job. He was very gentle. I think (that's) important. I hope the bird is fine. Maybe they'll take it to the vet clinic or something. I don’t know; we need to ask what happened after.”
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Indeed, eagle-eyed chair umpire Damien Dumusois did, um, fly into action, climbing down from his perch and grabbing a white towel. He approached the bird, which appeared injured and tried hopping away. Dumusois gave chase and eventually bent over, using the towel to grab the pigeon with both hands, earning cheers from spectators.
The umpire then carried it toward a doorway and handed it off to someone else, who held the bird aloft, drawing more applause.
Dumusois returned to his chair, got back up on his seat and announced that play would resume.