Andy Murray slams 'ridiculous' rule that forced stoppage in Sinner vs Dimitrov

Andy Murray has slammed Wimbledon bosses for closing the roof at a crucial moment in world No. 1 Jannik Sinner's fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov at Wimbledon. No. 19 seed Dimitrov, who enjoyed his best result here 11 years ago when he reached the semi-final, looked on course to pull off a huge upset when he took a two-set lead over Sinner.

The Bulgarian served out the second set to go 6-3 7-5 up, and the referee came to the court to inform the players that the roof would be closed due to fading light, so they could switch the floodlights on. It was around 8.30pm local time and Dimitrov didn't seem pleased, chatting with referee Denise Parnell.

It was still relatively light outside but tournament officials wanted to close the roof at a natural stopping point in between sets, rather than shutting it deep into the third set. There was a 10-minute delay while the roof closed and the umpire announced the decision to the crowd.

But Murray - a two-time champion here who retired last summer - blasted the decision to make the players compete under the roof so early into the night.

He tweeted: "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!"

Dimitrov also seemed to have a similar issue with the decision and was seen chatting to Parnell before saying: "I'm not criticising, just asking."

BBC microphones struggled to pick up their conversation but Parnell told Dimitrov: "We've got a policy."

Tim Henman, who is an All England Club board member and commentating on the match for the BBC, explained that it was the best time to shut the roof instead of interrupting play later on.

"It's a judgement call but there is time that could be played without closing the roof but certainly looking for a convenient time and certainly at the end of the second set at 8.25pm, they're not going to finish this third set without shutting the roof so this is probably the best time to close the roof and then let the players get back on it," he said.

Sinner took an off-court comfort break while the roof was closing. When it was finally shut and the lights were turned on, the players had a quick knock-up before play resumed.

The world No. 1 had called the physio and received treatment on his elbow in the middle of the second set but it didn't make much difference. Sinner broke when Dimitrov served for the second set and levelled the score at 5-5 but the Bulgarian broke again and closed it out.

But there was trouble early on in the third when Dimitrov served at 1-2 40-15 as he suddenly grabbed his pectoral area in pain. It went down as an ace and he won the game but Dimitrov collapsed to the ground and Sinner rushed over. The physio also rushed to the court and took the 29th seed to his bench for a discussion.

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