Rain, environmental activists affect Wimbledon play on Day 3

Associated Press
Wednesday, July 5, 2023 10:36 a.m. | Wednesday, July 5, 2023 10:36 a.m.

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A Just Stop Oil protester runs onto Court 18 and releases confetti and a jigsaw puzzle on Wednesday, Day 3 of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London.

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Maria Sakkari of Greece returns to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in a women’s singles match on Wednesday, Day 3 of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London.

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Spectators walk Wednesday with their umbrellas after a rain delay on Day 3 of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London.

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Spectators shelter from the rain Wednesday, Day 3 of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London.

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Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk returns to Maria Sakkari of Greece in a women’s singles match on Wednesday, Day 3 of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London.

WIMBLEDON, England — Rain is again affecting play at Wimbledon on Day 3 of the grass-court tournament, and two environmental activists halted one match as well.

Intermittent showers Wednesday forced matches on the outside courts to be suspended twice, while play in the main stadiums was also stopped for a short time because of the weather.

Two Just Stop Oil protestors were arrested after disrupting one match by running onto Court 18 and throwing orange confetti onto the grass, before being led off by security. That stopped the first-round encounter between Grigor Dimitrov and Sho Shimabukuro early in the second set, and the rain then came before the confetti could be cleared.

#BREAKING #Wimbledon2023 #Britain "Just Stop Oil" protesters disrupt Wimbledon Tennis match after throwing orange confetti on court. The duel between Grigor Dimitrov and Sho Shimabukuro was interrupted at the beginning of the second set due to the intrusion of protesters. pic.twitter.com/UnBeQ1UZ3W

— National Independent (@NationalIndNews) July 5, 2023

The match resumed with the others after the rain delay. The two protestors were arrested “on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage,” the All England Club said in a statement.

Wimbledon increased its security in coordination with London police and other agencies for this year’s tournament, in part as a result of protests at other major sports venues in Britain this year.

The rain had already created a major backlog of matches after the first two days, and only eight matches were completed on Tuesday.

Only Centre Court and No. 1 Court at the All England Club have roofs. Top-seeded woman Iga Swiatek and defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic were both scheduled to play on Centre Court after the opening match between Daria Kasatkina and Jodie Burrage.

On No. 1 Court, third-seeded Daniil Medvedev was playing Arthur Fery.

On Wednesday, players like Swiatek and Djokovic will be playing in the second round while many players have yet to even take the court in the first round.