Grigor Dimitrov says ‘first reaction’ was to stop Just Stop Oil protesters after ‘unpleasant’ disruption at Wimbledon

Grigor Dimitrov said it was “not pleasant” to have his first-round match at Wimbledon interrupted by protesters – and revealed his “first reaction” was to try and stop them before deciding against it.

The contest between Dimitrov and Sho Shimabukuro on Court 18 was interrupted by two Just Stop Oil protesters, who the All England Club said had been arrested.

The two protesters threw orange-coloured confetti and jigsaw pieces onto the court.

The disruption came just as play was about to stopped due to rain.

“Obviously it’s not pleasant,” said Dimitrov, who won the match in straight sets.

“At the end of the day there is not much you can do. I think everyone in a way did their part as quick as possible.

“I mean, rain was coming so it was also a little bit fortunate to come off the court and have some time to, you know, kind of like regroup a little bit and, you know, shake it off.

“I thought everything was just handled good.”

A third protester targeted Katie Boulter’s match against Daria Saville later in the day.

Asked if he felt at all threatened, Dimitrov added: “No, no, not at all.

“Especially players like us are very aware of whatever is happening around. I think we are never left unguarded anywhere we have to go outside the grounds. So yeah, walking to the court, you’re always surrounded by the right people.

“Yeah, I mean, I for one feel OK with everything on that end. And again, it just can happen…if you’re in the wrong place in the wrong time.”

There were heightened security measures at Wimbledon this week in a bid to stop Just Stop Oil protesters, which led to increased time for fans in the queue.

Dimitrov, who made the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2014, was asked whether players had been briefed about the situation.

“I think even if we are briefed or whatever, you just don’t know how to do certain situations.

“They can say, ‘OK, don’t do that, or run off the court, or be ready with your racquet’. I think that’s a little bit out of our control.

“The only thing we can do, you all have instincts, right?

“Even if we’re briefed or someone had said something to us, for example, the guy said, ‘can you please stand next to me’ as soon as that thing happened, so we have to respect the rule on that end. That’s what we did.”

A protestor at the Ashes last week was carried off the pitch by England wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow.

Dimitrov admits his “first reaction” had been to do something similar.

“But then I also realised that’s not my place to do that,” he added.

“I think it just depends on the person. Whatever instinct you have. It’s very difficult to tell you, honestly, on that end.

“But it’s just…even if you’re aware, you just don’t know. Things happen unexpectedly, and as I said, sometimes you’re just at the wrong place at the wrong time. When that happens…yeah.”

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