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Beatboxing Tennis "Umpire" Steals the Show at Olympics with Performance of Daft Punk
The chair umpire and his counterparts got the crowds at Roland-Garros hyped with an impromptu performance.
Those who bought a ticket to Sunday's Olympic tennis at Roland Garros were treated to a surprise performance — by the umpire.
As attendees filled the stadium to watch the gold medal match between Spain's Carlos Alcaraz and Serbia's Novak Djokovic on Sunday, the umpire put on a show to get them hyped for the event. A video captured by NBC Sports shows the unassuming figure begin to beatbox from his position in the chair.
What's more, as the umpire beatboxed to the French group Daft Punk song "Around the World," two line judges joined in the fun by dancing to the beat. He then did a quick transition to the Belgian singer Stromae's "Alors en Danse," at which point yet another line judge started dancing.
People on social media loved the umpire's confidence, with one person commenting, "That man said to himself. Today is the day I shoot my shot."
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Eklips the Beatboxer
The umpire was identified online as Eklips, a rapper and beatboxer based in Paris.
Eklips has been beatboxing for the past few days, with one clip on his Instagram showing the crowd erupting in applause as his performance drew to a close.
But it seems Eklips was merely keeping the chair warm for the official referee, Damien Dumusois, who most definitely is not a beatboxer.
The French chair umpire has however made headlines before for saving a pigeon during the French Open. During a match between Daniil Medvedev and Tomas Machac, the bird flew onto the clay court but struggled to take flight, prompting Dumusois to grab the bird with a towel and take it away, per CNN.
Novak Djokovic Wins Gold
Following Eklips' performance, Djokovic and Alcaraz had their final showdown on the red clay at the Court Philippe-Chatrier. The match was an intense affair that could've gone either way, but ultimately Djokovic was victorious.
Djokovic was incredibly emotional as he won, dropping to his knees on the clay and crossing himself as the crowd cheered around him. He is officially a Golden Slam titleholder, having won all four major championships, in addition to the Olympic gold medal. Only four other tennis players have accomplished this: Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, and Andre Agassi, according to the BBC.
And at the age of 37, he's the oldest gold medalist in the Olympic Tennis Event since 1988, the ITF shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.
