A tennis umpire was forced to sensationally dive out of their chair before it capsized during a chastening incident at this week’s Cap Cana Challenger. The event was being held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, where heavy winds impacted the play.

The incident occurred during the quarter-final clash between Daniel Altmaier and Aleksandar Kovacevic, which the latter was leading 0-40 in the opening game at the time. As Altmaier was gearing up to take a serve, the game had to be stopped when umpire Baron Santoyo lept from his chair.

At first, the two players looked bemused as to what was happening, but it quickly became clear as the chair tumbled to the ground. Replays of the incident show how Santoyo had to take drastic action in order to avoid going down with the chair as it began to tip.

Thankfully, there wasn’t anybody in the immediate vicinity of the chair, which typically measures close to two metres high. Instead, the structure collapsed onto what looked to be a plastic chair or table.

Understandably, the stunt caused plenty of reaction on social media, with one user reacting on Reddit with: “Damn, impressive move.”

Whereas one user replied: “He jumped just in time to avoid a bad injury.”

Another added: “And people are complaining about the gentle desert breezes in Indian Wells,” a reference to the weather conditions that have been plaguing the tournament in California.

When quizzed on the conditions, Emma Raducanu said: “Extremely awkward in the wind here. A lot of balls that were very, very spinny on these courts in the day and in the wind. So it was just jumping up a lot, and then kind of short, like, almost like mishits.”

Carlos Alcaraz was among those whose match was impacted by the wind, but unlike others, he wasn’t fazed by the adverse conditions. The Spanish ace commented: “I always say that I like playing with wind, with these conditions. I think I adapt really well.

“I think to play with such a huge wind is to believe in your physical conditions and to believe that you’re going to reach every ball. That’s what I thought in the match. I think Grigor [Dimitrov] plays more aggressively with less time, so I think that’s why I adapt much better in these conditions in today’s match.”