Daniil Medvedev beat Tomas Machac in a marathon third-round match at Roland Garros on Saturday, but chair umpire Damien Dumusois also received applause on the Suzanne-Lenglen court when he saved a sick pigeon.
During a change in the fourth set of a match played under the roof, the bird landed on the clay surface in front of Medvedev’s seat, flapping its wings but apparently unable to fly.
“I hope the bird was okay. It didn’t look good. I think maybe something (wrong) with the wing,” Medvedev said.
“But I was like, oh my God, if it gave me an extra minute to breathe, that would be perfect and that’s what happened.
“The referee did a good job. He was very nice… I hope the bird is okay.”
The referee got down from his chair to remove the bird with a towel.
The pigeon tried to escape his clutches by jumping, but he managed to catch the bird and hand it over to another tournament official to the warm applause of spectators.
