General

Fan On the Court After Murray Defeats Cilic To Get To Aussie Final

Jan 28, 2010, 3:15 PM UTC

â†µThere’s been much talk about fans storming the court in college basketball these days, from the SEC fining South Carolina $25,000 for celebrating after defeating No. 1 Kentucky to the embarrassment in Charlotte, as fans stormed the court after beating No. 15 Temple on Wednesday. Really, Charlotte? Temple?â†µ

â†µâ†µBut a fan on the court in tennis has a totally different tenor than a bunch of kids at a college game. Let’s face it, the sporting world changed after Monica Seles was stabbed by a crazy person in the crowd. Even last year at the French Open, a man leapt onto the court to put a hat on Roger Federer during a match and while he seemed harmless, you never know what a person crazy enough to jump onto a tennis court may be crazy enough to actually do. â†µ

â†µâ†µSo when a fan walked onto the court after Andy Murray defeated Marin Cilic in the semifinals of the Australian Open, it’s mind-boggling to think this kind of stuff can still happen.â†µ

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â†µNot good enough, indeed. Not only did this fan get on the court, but he nonchalantly went to center court, to the umpires chair, to shake Cilic’s hand before casually walking off, even giving the one security guard who came to stop him the ‘it’s okay if you need to handcuff me’ gesture. This is inexplicable. â†µ

â†µWhat's worse is that the fan was so mild mannered about it. He didn't run around or cause a scene during the match or even try to elude capture. He seemingly just wanted to say hello to Cilic and thought this was the best way. A generation ago, this would have been funny. This video would be leading the 'wacky sports' segments on local news telecasts around the world. But that's not the world we live in today. Not after the Seles incident. Not in a world with suicide bombers and international terrorists trying to make a statement. It's kind of a shame, really. â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd that incident shouldn’t take away from the amazing tennis that Murray played. After a completely lackluster first set, Murray woke up in the second with this incredible court coverage: â†µ

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