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Watch: Just Stop Oil protester invades court, wrestles with Wimbledon security as activists repeat Ashes display
Just Stop Oils disrupted two Wimbledon matches on Wednesday, similar to their actions during the ongoing Ashes series.
Wimbledon 2023 has seen plenty of poor weather, with rain playing spoilsport. Day 2 saw as many as 22 matches get cancelled, and then the postponed fixtures were further delayed on Day 3 due to poor weather. Meanwhile, 10 of the 18 second round matches scheduled for Day 3 were also cancelled.
Other than the poor weather, the Grand Slam also fell victim to environmental protesters, who invaded the courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, on Wednesday. The environmental activist group came under the spotlight during the ongoing Ashes series, having invaded the pitch.
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On Wednesday, Just Stop Oil protesters first invaded Grigor Dmitrov's first round match against Sho Shimabukuro at Court 18. A pair of protesters interrupted the match, threw orange confetti on the court, and also placed jigsaw puzzle on the centre. The activist group repeated a similar performance in Court 18 during Katie Boulter's first round match against Daria Saville.
Here is the video of the protester trying to escape security at Court 18:
In a statement, Just Stop Oil explained, “Today’s action comes as the Met office confirmed on Monday that June was the hottest on record, with the average monthly temperature of 15.8C exceeding the previous highest average June temperature, recorded in 1940 and 1976, by 0.9C.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the All England Club commented, “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 statement further added.
Meanwhile, the Met Police have escorted the protesters in question out of the venue.
