Tennis match disrupted by anti-Israel protesters targeting Israeli player Lina Glushko

A friendly tennis match took an unexpected turn on Monday in New Zealand, as Israeli player Lina Glushko and Japanese champion Naomi Osaka were forced to pause twice during the first set.

Chants of “Free Palestine,” “Israel is a terror state,” and “Israel out” rang from outside the tennis venue as demonstrators used microphones to blast their slurs at Glushko. Because the protests took place on public streets, they could not be shut down or moved.

“I started hearing anti-Israel chants, and then they got closer to the court. They shouted ‘Lina murders children.’ This has never happened to me,” Glushko shared with Channel 12 News on Monday.

“I was a bit concerned at first, I asked the security guard several times if everything is okay," she disclosed on Israeli radio. The protests also brought confusion to Osaka who reportedly said, "I just heard a lot of shouting, and then people on the sidelines told me there were protests."

Despite the delays and disruptions, the match was close, with Osaka beating Glushko with a 6-4, 6-4 score. After the fiercely competitive tennis match, Osaka complimented Glushko by saying, “I think she’s a really amazing opponent. I’ve never played her before. It was good to have to scrap a little for the first round.”

Glushko told the broadcaster for Kan News, “I’m continuing my hasbara (public diplomacy) work. I go to many places around the world, and I see people who don’t understand what they’re protesting about. They have no knowledge of what is happening [in Israel], and they do what they do to tell themselves that they’re doing something for peace.”

The Australian Open’s qualifying rounds are next week and Glushko is preparing to compete.