Sir Andy Murray has hit out at Wimbledon officials for closing the Centre Court roof during Jannik Sinner’s last 16 match against Grigor Dimitrov.
Sinner had been outclassed 6-3, 7-5 by the experienced Bulgarian in the opening sets. The decision was then made to close the roof just before 8.30pm, when there still appeared to be some light outside.
The decision resulted in a 13-minute delay that disrupted Dimitrov’s momentum. Four games later, Dimitrov grabbed his chest after serving out the game to make it 2-2, which proved to be the last action of tennis of the evening. After the match, Murray hit out at Centre Court organisers for what he felt was an unnecessary decision and delay.
On social media, he wrote: “So ridiculous to close the roof at this stage of the match. At least an hour of light left…well over a set of tennis can still be played…it’s an outdoor tournament!”
However, not everyone shared Murray’s view, as Tim Henman said: “I always felt the players sweat more, and there is a little bit less air flow. It is absolutely ideal conditions, there is little wind with the roof open and none now.”
Former British No. 1 Greg Rusedski also weighed in, suggesting that the decision to close the roof benefited Sinner, who had been struggling up until that point. He said: “If I was Grigor Dimitrov, I would say to keep playing. These conditions are working brilliantly for him.
“When you close the roof, you do have perfect conditions and light but that is going to help Jannik Sinner because it is going to slow down the pace of play and his toss will be in the right place on top of that. So if I was Dimitrov, I would’ve said, ‘Keep the roof open and let’s try to play one more set even with the bad light.’ This actually favours Sinner.”
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However, Dimitrov’s match ended just 20 minutes later. After serving out the fourth game, he fell to the ground clutching his chest in agony, which resulted in a medical timeout. Sinner showed concern for his opponent’s well-being, checking on Dimitrov twice while he received medical attention.
It proved to be too painful for the former World No. 3, who had to retire and bow out of the competition. Rusedski added: “Dimitrov is playing the tennis of his life. We didn’t see this coming whatsoever. This is not the way we want this match to end. He is holding his pectoral muscle which is a chest muscle, so let’s hope he can find a solution because we don’t want to see this happen right now.”
Sinner expressed his sympathy for Dimitrov in his post-match interview, saying: “I don’t know what to say. He is an incredible player and we all saw this today. He has been so unlucky in the past couple of years.
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“He is an incredible player who is a good friend of mine. We understand each other very well off the court. Seeing him in this position – if there was a chance for him to be in the next round he would deserve it. I hope he has a speedy recovery.
“I don’t take this as a win at all, this is just an unfortunate moment for us to witness. He has struggled in Grand Slams with injuries a lot so seeing him again with this injury is very tough. We all saw by his reaction how much he cares about the sport and he is one of the hardest working players on tour.
“Thank you for coming, but this is not the end we wanted to see and it’s very sad. We all wish him only the best – let’s give an applause for him and his team.”