Two protesters from the Just Stop Oil campaign group ran onto Wimbledon's Court 18 and delayed the first-round match between Grigor Dimitrov and Sho Shimabukuro.
Before 2023 Wimbledon started, there were concerns about a potential protest from the Just Stop Oil group, after the campaigners had already interrupted various British sporting events this year.
In addition, Wimbledon's organisers warned the group against staging a protest, while enhanced security measures at the All England Lawn Tennis Club to prevent any protests have led to lengthy spectator queues outside the grounds.
However, it didn't take long for two protesters to breach security and race on to court 18 as Dimitrov and Shimabukuro were playing out their match. The two protesters also threw pieces of orange confetti and jigsaw puzzle pieces across the grass and Wimbledon organisers were quick to condemn the activists' actions via its official Twitter channel.
"Following an incident on Court 18, two individuals have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage and these individuals have now been removed from the Grounds."
"Play on the court was temporarily paused and, following a suspension in play due to a rain delay, play is about to resume."
The delay caused huge frustration for the spectators and the players as days two and three at the Grand Slam event had already been severely disrupted by a rain washout, which has setback the schedule of play. In addition, fans on Court 18 didn't hold back their annoyance as they proceeded to jeer and boo the protesters as they jumped over the barriers and ran onto the grass.
In the lead-up to Wimbledon, it was discovered that the Just Stop Oil group were planning to stage a protest at the Grand Slam. An investigation found that the campaign group was supposedly planning on disrupting Centre Court by glueing themselves to the grass and the umpire's chair.
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