Umpire rescues pigeon during French Open match

With a bird’s eye view from his chair, umpire Damien Dumusois spotted a poorly pigeon on Court Suzanne-Lenglen and flew into action.

Remaining on the ground after landing on the red clay during a changeover in the fourth set in the match between Daniil Medvedev and Tomas Machac, the bird, according to Reuters, was flapping its wings but seemed unable to fly.

Pictures show Dumusois picking up the bird with a towel during the third-round match, which Medvedev won under the roof on a rain-hit day to reach the last 16.

“I hope the bird was okay, it was not looking good,” Medvedev told reporters afterwards. “I think maybe something with the wing.

“But I was like, oh my God, if it gives me an extra minute to breathe, it would be perfect and it did. For me, it was a good moment.

“The referee did a good job. He was very gentle, I think important, and I hope the bird is fine and they take it to the vet clinic. I don’t know, we need to ask what happened after.”

World No. 5 Medvedev took three hours and 24 minutes to beat Machac 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 1-6 6-4 on Saturday. He will next play Alex de Minaur in the fourth round.

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