Gunshots and tear gas! Minutes of shock for tennis pros during the match

Brazzaville (Congo) - Unbelievable scenes took place during an ATP Challenger tournament in Brazzaville, Congo . Shots were allegedly fired right next to a tennis court.

Dutchman Guy den Ouden (22) and Ivan Denisov (24) faced each other in the first round of the tournament. With the score 6:1 and 2:2 in favor of den Ouden, Denisov was just about to serve when he supposedly heard several shots. Shortly afterwards, thick clouds of smoke rose above the area.

Creepy: The players could hear what was going on next to the pitch, but couldn't see anything as green protective walls blocked the view outside.

The match was interrupted immediately, but after just 15 minutes the game continued as if nothing had happened. It is quite possible that the referee and those around him were already aware of what was going on next to the court.

Because the Dutchman, who won the match 6:1 and 6:3 in the end, explained what had actually happened in his Instagram storyafter the match.

"Police exercise, tear gas bombs in the street. The tear gas also spread across the pitch and the match was interrupted for ten to 15 minutes. Nothing crazy happened," Guy den Ouden reassured the people who had contacted him excitedly.

He also added that there had been no shooting and that everything had been fine. The scenes had given the two players quite a shock.

This is only the second time that the tournament has been held in the Congo capital. Maik Steiner (30), a German player, is also taking part. However, he was eliminated in the singles in the first round. In the doubles, he and his Austrian partner Maximilian Neuchrist (33) are in the quarter-finals.

Steiner played on an adjacent court during the scenes and lost to Eliakim Coulibaly (22) from the Ivory Coast in three sets. All the players were relieved that the scene was not as bad as it sounded in the end.