Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek successfully continued their Wimbledon campaigns on Wednesday as climate protesters and rain caused delays at the All England Club.
Djokovic defeated Australia’s Jordan Thompson 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) and 7-5. It was the 36-year-old’s 350th Grand Slam singles victory, the third most behind Roger Federer and Serena Williams.
While Djokovic and Swiatek effortlessly advanced to the last 32, there were still four first-round matches to begin. The four games are part of the 21 games postponed until Thursday due to rain.
A new headache presented itself at Wimbledon on Wednesday in the form of Just Stop Oil climate protesters.
Two activists, both in their 60s, disrupted the match between Grigor Dimitrov and Sho Shimabukuro by throwing orange confetti onto the court. They were arrested and removed from the site.
Just hours later, the match between Katie Boulter and Daria Saville on the same court was disrupted when another protester also threw confetti.
Just Stop Oil, which wants an end to new oil and gas extraction in the North Sea, has already disrupted several sporting events, including the Ashes series, the British Formula One Grand Prix and the English Premier League final.
The top-ranked Swiatek meanwhile beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2 and 6-0. The reigning US Open and French Open champion has never been past the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Daniil Medvedev celebrated his return to Wimbledon with a 7-5, 6-4 and 6-3 victory over Arthur Fery.
Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is seeded fifth, beat Dominic Thiem and will now face two-time champion Andy Murray.
Tsitsipas won 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-2, 6-7 (5/7) and 7-6 (10/8) against Thiem after an almost four-hour battle.
Matches to watch
Tsitsipas and Murray face each other on Thursday while the defending women’s champion, Elena Rybakina, will take on 74th seed Alizé Cornet.
Alexander Zverev faces Gijs Brouwer on Thursday. The 26-year-old Zverev tore his ankle ligaments in his French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal last year and was out for the rest of the season.
