Hilarious Moment When Canadian Open Sound System Plays Pop Classic ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ In The MIDDLE Of A Point Between Jessica Pegula And World No. 1 Iga Swiatek – Forcing Referee To Stop Semifinal
Hilarious Moment When Canadian Open Sound System Plays Pop Classic ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ In The MIDDLE Of A Point Between Jessica Pegula And World No. 1 Iga Swiatek – Forcing The Referee To Stop Their Semifinal
- Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula were in the middle of a vital point in the semifinals
- The umpire immediately stopped play when Cotton Eye Joe blared onto the field
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
This is the bizarre moment when the blockbuster Canadian Open semifinal tennis match between Jessica Pegula and Iga Swiatek was interrupted by the legendary 1994 pop classic Cotton Eye Joe.
The crowd in Montreal was treated to a brilliant battle between two of the best players in the world, but an unusual moment occurred at a crucial point in the second set tiebreaker when the players were in full swing.
As Pegula attempted to wrestle the game away from Swiatek’s grasp, and as the world No. 1 reached to answer a high shot from her American opponent, the sound system inexplicably began blaring music onto the field.
The umpire stopped playing very quickly, as the audience was stunned and the TV announcer could be heard saying, ‘Oh wow’.
He then continued, “Cotton Eye Joe just came in halfway through the rally… are we in Texas?” as the umpire can be heard telling the players to replay the point.
Iga Swiatek reached for an overhead return as music began blaring on the field
A stunned umpire immediately stopped play and ordered the point replayed
It was a pivotal point in the game as Jessica Pegula approached a huge victory in Montreal
Swiatek reacted better to the disruption and was able to win the second set tiebreak
Both Pegula and Swiatek looked dismayed at the interruption of their collision, which was at a crucial moment when the foul occurred.
On social media, tennis fans went wild when the clip was shared en masse, with a comment, “Why can’t I stop watching?”
Another added, “I’m really dying over this,” while one fan commented, “You couldn’t pick a funnier song to interrupt a point.”
In the match itself, Swiatek appeared to use the upset to her advantage and won the tiebreak to tie the match at one set.
From there, however, American Pegula came back on top and sealed a 6-4 final set to book her spot in the Canadian Open final.
She plays one of the 3rd seed Elena Rybakina or the 15 seed Liudmila Samsonova.