WIMBLEDON 2017

Wimbledon was disrupted by a swarm of insects yesterday as ‘flying ant day’ distracted a host of top players.

Thousands of bugs descended on the All England Club in scenes never witnessed at the tournament before.

British No 1 Johanna Konta was among the players affected as she overcame Croatia’s Donna Vekic in a lengthy three-setter on Centre Court.

She said: “There were many. It was interesting. I definitely have taken home a few, both in my belly and in my bags.”

Outside courts were also affected with another Briton, Aljaz Bedene, feeling the full force of nature against Damir Dzumhur on Court Three.

“I’ve never experienced it before. It was awkward,” said Bedene after his four-set victory. “It was annoying. When you are playing a point, you only see the ball. But after the point, yeah, they were just flying around.

“You have to focus on your game. If you get a few flies on your back or head, if that bothers you, the games go away. Hopefully that was just today and they’ll be gone by Friday.”

Two-time semi-finalist Jowilfried Tsonga, who beat Simone Bolelli of Italy in straight sets on Court Two, admitted: “That was strange.

“I’ve had a few experiences in the United States. Or in Australia also you have these kind of things. But that was a little bit different, because these were very small, but a lot. It was in my nose, and in my ear.”

America’s Sam Querrey even claimed the ants cost him a set in his win over Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia on Court 18. “I’ve never seen that before,” he said. “If it got much worse, I almost wanted to stop because they were hitting you in the face when you were trying to hit balls. I lost a set when the ants came. If I had won that set, they probably wouldn’t have bugged me as much.”

So-called ‘flying ant day’ is an annual occurrence, in the warm weather, when ants sprout wings and leave their nests to mate.