The identity of the protester thrown out of Sunday's Wimbledon final has been revealed as Drew Pavlou, an Australian human rights activist.
It was during the third set of Novak Djokovic's dramatic win over Nick Kyrgios that a commotion could be heard from the stands. Both players stopped to find out what was happening in the crowd as one fan was then escorted from Centre Court.
Not long after the incident, it emerged the spectator in question was holding up a sign and shouting: "Where is Peng Shuai?" The women's tennis player has become the source of international debate after she accused former Chinese vice-premier Zhang Gaoli of a 2018 sexual assault last year, only to briefly disappear before retracting her statement and call the situation a "huge misunderstanding."
Protester Pavlou has a history of campaigning for human rights, and his Instagram shows him holding a silent protest with the "Where is Peng Shuai" sign at Wimbledon on Saturday. Following his ejection from Centre Court on Sunday, he suggested security were overzealous as they apprehended him.
"Security crash tackled me for holding a #WhereIsPengShuai sign at the Wimbledon Final, threw me head first down the stairs and then smashed me up against the wall," tweeted Pavlou, while the final was still being played. "I didn’t mean to cause so much disruption, just wanted to speak up for an innocent woman being persecuted."
Other Twitter users suggested a silent protest with the sign would have sufficed but said the shouting was too disruptive. Pavlou insisted he "didn’t want to disrupt the match," however, and only started shouting after "security started attacking me."
The timing of the message was particularly poor from Kyrgios' point of view, with Pavlou's compatriot hoping for a seamless run at his first Grand Slam final. The latter apologised to his countryman before signing off another tweet with: "I love you [Kyrgios] man hope you win the match."
It was not to be for the world No. 40, however, as he ultimately fell to Djokovic in four sets. 'Nole' collected his 21st career Grand Slam title and can pull back level with record-holder Rafael Nadal if he wins the U.S. Open later this summer.
Updates on Peng's condition have become increasingly uncommon since the initial outrage relating to her November 2021 claims. Speaking to 60 Minutes Australia in February, Victor Gao, the vice president of the Center for China and Globalisation, suggested Peng couldn't have been assaulted because she's too athletic, adding that to further the claims would be 'indulging fantasy.'
