Environmentalists, rain puts pause to play at Wimbledon for 2nd consecutive day
Rain again affects play at Wimbledon on day 3 of the grass court tournament, and two environmentalists also halted a match.
Intermittent showers on Wednesday caused games on the outdoor courts to be halted twice, while play in major stadiums was also briefly halted due to the weather.
Two Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested after disrupting a game by running onto Court 18 and throwing orange confetti on the grass, before being led away 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.
The game resumed with the others after the rain delay. The two protesters were arrested “on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage,” the All England Club said in a statement.
Wimbledon increased its security in conjunction with London police and other agencies for this year’s tournament, in part due to protests at other major sporting venues across Britain this year.
“Based on what has happened at other sporting events and following advice from our key partners, we have reviewed our security plans, which have now been increased accordingly for The Championships,” said All England Club Operations Director Michelle Dite last week.
“We have plans to mitigate risk by working with specialist agencies and the Metropolitan Police and if an incident occurs the appropriate specialist teams will respond,” said Dite.
Earlier in June, protesters briefly held up the England cricket team’s bus during the test against Ireland in London. Activists this year have also focused on Premier League football matches, the Premiership rugby final at Twickenham and the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.
Only Center Court and No. 1 Court of the All England Club have roofs. Top seeded woman Iga Swiatek and defending champion Novak Djokovic were both scheduled to play on Center Court after the opening game between Daria Kasatkina and Jodie Burrage.
On the No. 1 court, third-seeded Daniil Medvedev played against Arthur Fery.
On Wednesday, players like Swiatek and Djokovic will play in the second round, while many players do not even have to go on the field in the first round.
