Andre Agassi called for Rufus to take action after a ‘bird on the net’ interrupted Carlos Alcaraz’s clash with Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon.
Play was briefly halted during the first game of the semi-final showdown on Centre Court when Fritz was about to serve with the score at 15-15.
Fritz saw the funny side with the American tennis star seen with a massive grin as the crowd laughed off the incident before the bird flew away.
Tennis legend Agassi was hoping to see Rufus, a hawk who has been responsible for keeping the courts pest-free for 17 years, deal with it.
‘There’s a bird on the net!’
‘There’s a bird on the net – and that’s the wrong place to be when Taylor’s about to serve!’ Andrew Castle said on commentary duties for the BBC.
Agassi then added: ‘Where’s Rufus? We need Rufus to come and take care of that thing!’
There has been talk of a ‘succession crisis’ over Wimbledon hawk Rufus – aged 17 – who has reportedly failed to breed.
Donna Davis, the hawk handler for Rufus, who has been patrolling the courts at Wimbledon since 2008, admits an attempt was made to breed him with another bird named Pamela, but it was ‘not love at first sight’.
Speaking to the BBCDavis said: ‘It was in lockdown that we thought let’s see if Rufus will breed with Pamela, they didn’t hit it off. We decided to try and get a different suitor for him.’
Quizzed if another potential mate had been identified, Davis added: ‘I haven’t looked, but if there are any females that are not his bloodline then yeah we could try, couldn’t we?’
Rufus, raised by Avian Environmental Consultants, first appeared at Wimbledon when he was only 16 weeks old.
American Harris hawks usually live for 25-35 years and Davis has previously said Rufus will keep working ‘as long as he’s in good health’.
Alcaraz vs Fritz halted twice as fans fall ill
The umpire was later forced to halt Alcaraz’s semi-final against Fritz at Wimbledon after two fans felt ill in boiling temperatures on Centre Court.
The first pause came when Alcaraz was serving at 4-3 in the second set with a spectator – clearly struggling in the heat – helped by stewards.
Three points later, the umpire suspended play a second time, with an elderly lady helped out of her chair and to the exit after falling ill.
Agassi said: ‘As players we train for this (heat). They (spectators) are sitting in the baking sun and as players we worry about them. Let’s hope they are OK.’
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