Dan Evans has shot down Sir Andy Murray by claiming Grigor Dimitrov could have actually been helped by the decision to close the Centre Court roof. Dimitrov, 34, looked to be on his way to causing a huge shock at Wimbledon when he took the first two sets against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner on Monday.
After he won the second, a decision was made to close the roof, despite there appearing to be ample natural light to play under. Murray was particularly unhappy with the call, stating there was more than enough light to play another set.
Play was halted for 13 minutes while the roof was closed. At the end of the fourth game in the third set, Dimitrov hit a serve to make the score 2-2, but instantly felt his left pectoral muscle. He could be heard saying “my pec, my pec” as Sinner instantly came to check up on him.
After a medical time-out, Dimitrov could not carry on and Sinner was granted a walkover into the quarter-finals, where he will face Ben Shelton. But while Murray described the decision to shut the roof as “ridiculous”, Evans, who played alongside Murray in the doubles at the Olympic Games in Paris, disagreed with the former world No. 1.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Evans said: “I have had it closed on me on court one before – but we never started with it closed.
“I think they have to start with it open because it’s an outdoor tournament, unless it’s raining, obviously. I saw Andy’s tweet, that he thought it was premature that they shut the roof, but I guess they have their reasons.
“For me I didn’t see it as a problem – I actually thought it would help Grigor a bit. In the end it didn’t matter, but everyone has an opinion on these things, but in the end it wasn’t such a big thing.
A frustrated Murray aired his frustrations on X saying: “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!”
While Sinner is one step closer to winning Wimbledon, the Italian took no pleasure out of the way he won the match. In his post-match interview, he said: “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. 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.
