Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud won their respective singles matches to give Team Europe a 2-0 lead over the Rest of the World in the Laver Cup here on Friday. Tsitsipas defeated Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-1 after Ruud had earlier beaten Jack Sock 6-4, 5-7, 10-7.

However, there was more than just tennis on show at the O2 Arena as a man ran on to the court and set his arm on fire to protest against the use of private jets in Britain, briefly halting the match between Tsitsipas and Schwartzman. Security personnel acted quickly to drag the man off the court before play resumed following a quick check of the surface which was not damaged during the bizarre incident. British media reported that the protestor was a member of the End UK Private Jets group, which claims “carbon emissions in 2022 are genocide.”

Earlier Ruud gave Team Europe the first point. But the 6-4, 5-7, 10-7 victory pushed him much harder than many expected, thanks to a ranking-defying performance by Sock. Sock, ranked 128 in the world, played much better than his ranking suggested, not allowing the world No. 2 to have an easy outing. As Sock grew into the match, so did the Team World players.

Frances Tiafoe twice raced off the bench to high-five Sock after a rousing point, and early in the second set Felix Auger-Aliassime and Taylor Fritz were deputed to restrain Tiafoe from another court invasion. The crucial point in the tie-breaker came for Ruud when Sock made a rush to the net to play an angled drop volley, only to see the ball fall back to his side to give Ruud a 8-6 lead. Ruud then sealed the tie-breaker 10-7 and give Europe a 1-0 lead.