Angry Dimitrov crashes out as Sharapova looks on

Grigor Dimitrov staged a temporary sit-down protest to register his anger at court conditions today before he lost a five-set Wimbledon thriller.

The Bulgarian 29th seed, watched by superstar girlfriend Maria Sharapova, who was knocked out on Wednesday, went out 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 to Slovenia’s Grega Zemlja in a second round match suspednded due to rain on Thursday.

When the tie resumed on Court Three after a two-hour delay caused by more rain, the 22-year-old Dimitrov, watched by the sunglasses-wearing Sharapova, slipped and fell in his service action at 8-9 to give up the third match point of the tie.

He then stomped off to the sidelines and sat in his courtside chair.

The umpire and tournament referee then decided to wait out the drizzle before play resumed 10 minutes later.

But it didn’t change Dimitrov’s luck as Zemlja took victory on a sixth match point with a fine forehand passing shot.

Dimitrov, long touted as a future star of the sport, paid a heavy price for converting just two of 18 break points.

Zemlja, the first Slovenian to make the third round at Wimbledon, goes on to face Argentina’s eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro for a place in the last 16.