“I think there were a couple of fans that actually helped out. But yeah, I don’t think anyone felt threatened or anything. Yeah, it was all right. I managed to hold my serve that game, so yeah.”

Meanwhile, Zverev slammed security for failing to act fast – something they corrected in time for the women’s final. He said: “I think when something like this happens, it shouldn’t be another fan dragging the other person out. It should be the security guys that should be there quite quickly. It shouldn’t take them three, four minutes, that long.”

Sabalenka went on to successfully defend her crown after play resumed, defeating Zheng 6-3, 6-2 in a brutal one-sided final.