Three people have been arrested at Wimbledon for throwing confetti

WIMBLEDON, England –

Grigor Dimitrov was about to serve at Wimbledon when two environmentalists jumped out of the stands at Court 18 and disrupted his match by scattering orange confetti and puzzle pieces on the grass. His first instinct Wednesday? Join in and try to stop them.

“But then I also realized,” said the three-time Grand Slam semifinalist, “that’s not my place to do that.”

Instead, security agents dragged away the woman and man wearing T-shirts belonging to Just Stop Oil – an organization that wants the British government to halt new oil, gas and coal projects – and the two were arrested “on suspicion of aggravated offense and criminal damage,” according to the All England Club.

The next match on that same court, best known as the site of John Isner’s 2010 victory over Nicolas Mahut in the longest match in tennis history, was also interrupted by another man from that same environmental group. He was stopped by two security guards and was also arrested, the club said.

“Obviously it’s not pleasant,” said Dimitrov, a 32-year-old from Bulgaria who is seeded 21st in the men’s event and went on to beat Japanese qualifier Sho Shimabukuro 6-1, 6-2, 6-1. “At the end of the day, there’s not much you can do. I think everyone did their bit as quickly as possible in some way.”

The second match affected was British wild card Katie Boulter’s 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory against Australia’s Daria Saville. Boulter and Saville helped clear the debris before their match resumed.

Coincidentally, a rain delay came as the track was cleared after Dimitrov’s game stoppage.

He said he did not feel threatened by what happened.

But Dimitrov did acknowledge that there is a sense of vulnerability for players.

“You’re just there, in a way,” Dimitrov said. “And also: Security checks the bags when (people) enter the premises, but you just never know what the person might do.”

The All England Club coordinated with London police and other agencies to increase security 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.

Her comments came a day after representatives for Just Stop Oil briefly disrupted play five minutes into an England v Australia cricket match in London. Players from both teams intervened as the protesters attempted to spread orange powder on the field.

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.

“I think in some ways it would be a bit of a distraction if it was going on during the game, but I also understand how important it is sometimes for people to be able to protest for things that are important to them. And especially anything related to has to do with the climate,” said American Danielle Collins, who won her first-round match on Court 17 on Wednesday. “This is really something we’re dealing with, and I feel like not enough people are aware of these issues and have enough education about them.”