Watch: Australian Open Game Delayed As Protestor Throws 'Free Palestine' Leaflets

The Australian Open 2024 fourth-round match between Alexander Zverev and Cameron Norrie was delayed for a bit after a protestor threw 'Free Palestine' leaflets on the court. A person wearing a blue shirt, cap and a face mask threw the pamphlets that read 'Free Palestine' and 'While you're watching tennis bombs are dropping on Gaza'. The protestor's actions caused a short delay as the ball kids gathered all the pamphlets on the court and the security escorted the protestor away.

Coming to the match, Alexander Zverev overcame a fierce challenge from Britain's Cameron Norrie to make the Australian Open quarter-finals after a gruelling five-set battle on Monday.

The German sixth seed won 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (10/3) in a match lasting more than four hours and will face either second seed Carlos Alcaraz or unseeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in the last eight. 

Melbourne, Australia - pro-Palestinian protestor attempts to disrupt the @AustralianOpen tennis before spectators step in & forcefully remove the selfish individual & hand them over to authorities #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xlOL5ho1Fr

"At the end of the day it's a Grand Slam and everyone is playing at their best here," said Zverev. "Cam has definitely been playing amazing tennis and I'm just happy to get through."  

Both men were rock-solid on serve in the first set until Zverev won a compelling 16-shot rally to earn two break points in the 11th game, making the vital breakthrough when Norrie netted.

The German, who had won all four of their previous Tour-level matches, broke first in the second set to ramp up the pressure on his 19th-seeded opponent but Norrie then went on a four-game winning spree to level the match.

A single break was enough to give Zverev the third