A nail-biting tiebreaker at a professional tennis tournament was interrupted thanks to “Cotton Eye Joe!”
The match was as close as it gets at the semifinals of Montreal’s National Bank Open … Jessica Pegula and Iga Swiatek were trading points, with Pegula ahead 4-3 in the tiebreaker.
It’s all fun & games till Cotton Eyed Joe comes on mid rally pic.twitter.com/1o02yocU0S
— Bryce Bullock (@brycebullock) August 13, 2023
@brycebullock
As the ball was in play, everyone in the venue heard “If it hadn’t been for the Cotton Eye Joe” blaring from the speakers … the chair ump immediately suspended play.
You hear the announcer kinda shocked, but musically knowledgeable, telling the audience, “Oh wow, ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ just came on mid-rally.”
The point was replayed and in the end, the interruption may have changed the momentum, because Pegula never scored another point and Swiatek won 7-4, taking the second set.
Fear not, Pegula fans … she won the match in the third set.
That damn Joe!