Andy Murray slams Wimbledon decision as Jannik Sinner vs Grigor Dimitrov suspended

Andy Murray slammed Wimbledonchiefs over their decision to close the roof during No.1 seed Jannik Sinner’s last 16 meeting with Grigor Dimitrov on Monday night.

The Italian had just fallen two sets down on Centre Court when, just before 830pm, the decision was made to close the roof. Duly, that meant a break in play and an end to Dimitrov’s momentum. The delay lasted 13 minutes.

And the decision to suspend the match and close the roof left Murray unhappy, with the two-time Wimbledon champion calling the decision “ridiculous”.

On social media, he said: “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..its an outdoor tournament!”

In stark contrast to Murray, Tim Henman, speaking on BBC Two during commentary, felt closing the roof was a good thing.

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"I always felt the players sweat more, and there is a little bit less air flow," said the former British No.1. "It is absolutely ideal conditions, there is little wind with the roof open and none now."

Another former British No.1, Greg Rusedski, also had his say on the decision, believing that the move favoured the Italian - who until that point had been far from his best. He admitted: "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."

Just twenty minutes later, with the match 2-2 in the third set, Dimitrov hit the floor in agony and could be seen saying "my pec, my pec".

The match had to be suspended again with the Bulgarian suffering from what a serious pectoral injury - caused by Dimitrov serving an ace.

Sinner twice checked on his opponent while medics discussed with Dimitrov, who headed down the tunnel for a medical timeout - before it was confirmed the match was over and Dimitrov's race was run due to injury, his retirement handing Sinner a quarter-final spot.

Former British No.1 Greg Rusedski, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, said: "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."