THE Wimbledon men’s semi-final between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz was suspended twice in the same game due to fan medical emergencies in the stands.
The two-time defending champion, 22, faced the American No1 on Centre Court on Friday afternoon.
Temperatures hit a sweltering 31C in SW19.
And two fans were taken ill during the match.
The umpire called for play to be halted so stewards could tend to the stricken supporter.
The initial incident took place at 4-3 in the second set as Alcaraz was serving, having won the first set.
A ballboy ran over with a bottle of water to hand to the person sitting in the east stand in the direct sunshine.
Play resumed after about one minute.
However, later in the very game Alcaraz service game, the tennis had to be stopped for a second time just moments later.
Chair umpire Marijana Veljovic was made aware of another person struggling in the heat, this time behind the chair in the west stand.
She spoke to someone on the phone on her chair as a Wimbledon official made her way on to the court to talk to Veljovic.
The situation lasted a little longer as the players spoke to the Serbian umpire at the net before returning to their chairs briefly as again a ballyboy delivered water.
Thankfully, the elderly lady was able to walk out of the stand to receive further help from the medics.
Alcaraz continued at 30-30 and soon faced a break point but recovered to hold for 4-4.
It follows a string of health scares at Wimbledon during this year’s Championships – including matches involving Alcaraz and Fritz.
Alcaraz provided water for a fan on the opening day last Monday and even sent a personal tweet wishing her a speedy recovery.
Fritz, 27, saw his third-round clash with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina stopped four times due to a combination of medical emergencies and the American’s injury problems.
Then both of the women’s semi-finals yesterday were also stopped.
Aryna Sabalenka took water and an ice pack for the first fan before the first set against Amanda Anisimova was halted for a second time.
Then during Iga Swiatek’s emphatic win over Belinda Bencic, a spectator had to be carried out of the stands on a stretcher in further distressing scenes.
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