ome fans will be treated to four British players taking to the courts on the fourth day of Wimbledon after protesters twice disrupted play on day three of the tournament.
Three Just Stop Oil (JSO) protesters were arrested and held on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage after orange confetti and jigsaw puzzle pieces were thrown on to Court 18.
Souvenir jigsaws were unavailable to buy at the Wimbledon shop after the two incidents, which occurred about two hours apart on Wednesday.
The protesters were named by JSO as Deborah Wilde, Simon Milner-Edwards and William John Ward.
Sir Andy Murray will face off against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas on Centre Court after fellow Briton Liam Broady plays Norwegian Casper Ruud.
British compatriots Katie Boulter and Jan Choinski are also set to play.
Wilde, 68, a retired teacher from London, and Milner-Edwards, 66, a retired musician from Manchester, were arrested after the first protest just after 2pm on Wednesday during a match between Grigor Dimitrov and Sho Shimabukuro.
Ward, 66, a retired civil engineer from Epsom, was escorted from the court after a match between Briton Katie Boulter and Daria Saville was disrupted later in the afternoon.
The two players helped clear the grass of the orange confetti and the scattered jigsaw pieces before play resumed.
British number one Boulter told reporters after winning her match that it was a “tough moment” for both her and her opponent when protesters stopped play.
Asked if she was worried, she said: “Definitely. You never know what it is.
“I think I heard the crowd before I saw anything. Then I realised what it was because I saw it in the previous match.
“It was obviously a little bit of a shock to the system.
“I think we both handled it really well. It’s a really unfortunate situation for everyone.”
Dimitrov said his first reaction was to remove the protesters from the court.
The protesters at Wimbledon were determined to ruin the day’s play for spectators and sports fans across the world
Told an activist was physically carried off during the cricket last week, he said: “I mean, my first reaction was initially to go also, but then I also realised that’s not my place to do that.”
Spectators who heard about the protesters said they “marred” the tournament.
The first protest happened as Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer held talks with police and sports chiefs on how to prevent Just Stop Oil activists targeting flagship events.
Ms Braverman said after the meeting: “The protesters at Wimbledon were determined to ruin the day’s play for spectators and sports fans across the world.
“This is unacceptable. We will be uncompromisingly tough on the selfish protesters intent on spoiling our world-class sporting occasions this summer.
“The discussions I chaired at Downing Street were very productive. Sports, police and Government are united against preventing further disruption of this kind.”
The second Ashes Test at Lord’s, the Gallagher Premiership rugby final at Twickenham and the World Snooker Championship have also been affected in recent months.
