On Tuesday, Andy Murray easily advanced to the second round at Wimbledon, much to the joy of British tennis fans. But since rain prompted the cancellation of all outer-court matches, many of fans received refunds from the championships.
Murray, who now has a metal hip and won Wimbledon for the first time ten years ago, told the cheering Centre Court crowd that it had been a while since he had felt “physically this good.”
While seated in the royal box, the Princess of Wales, Roger Federer, and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe observed the 36-year-old beat fellow Briton Ryan Peniston 6-4, 6-0, 6-1. Following his 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Tomá Machá, Cameron Norrie joined Murray in the second round.
Murray remarked, to Federer’s amusement, “It was amazing to have some royalty here, but it was also some tennis royalty.”
However, severe rains caused play to be delayed after around an hour of action on all courts save Centre Court and Court One for most of the afternoon, forcing organisers to postpone 69 matches. Home supporters hoping to cheer on a variety of British stars were left disappointed.
The Wimbledon administrators said that any ground passes purchased before 5pm, as well as ticket holders for courts 2 and 3, would receive a full refund after a day that resulted in a run on ponchos in the official Wimbledon shop.
Wimbledon is anticipated to spend more than £250,000 on it. When questioned about the decision, given that the tournament’s own regulations state that spectators are only eligible for a 50% refund if they have watched more than an hour of play, a spokeswoman responded, “We are very generous at Wimbledon.”
It provided comfort to those who had gone to the two-week event, which was the pinnacle of the year for British tennis enthusiasts.
Ollie Neale, 24, a tennis coach visiting SW19 with his squad CourtX, stated, “I didn’t even see a point.” We went to see Andy up on the hill, but we had to leave since my trousers were so drenched.
Neale and his 20-year-old partner Alfie Reynolds, who coaches for Pride in Tennis, were commemorating their first anniversary after sharing their first kiss on Henman Hill a year prior. Neale remarked, “We’ve loved the day nevertheless. “It would have been awful anywhere else,”
Adrian White, 51, was overjoyed with pride as he watched Murray play on Centre Court after travelling from Edinburgh. He remarked, “I think Andy’s got every chance to get to the final. He was brilliant and looked on great form.” We wanted to see White while we still could since we didn’t know how long he would be able to keep going, said White’s wife Helen, who was wearing a union jack outfit.
After the game, Murray said it was “brilliant” to meet Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who had previously expressed her “joy” at seeing him play while she was detained in Iran. “I got to see her very briefly after the match,” Murray remarked. She appeared thrilled that I won, which made chatting to her and hearing her tale quite emotional for me.
Emma Raducanu, a former US Open champion, was also present at SW19 but informed the Princess of Wales that due to injuries, she wouldn’t be able to train until the following month. She complained, “It’s rehab so light exercises but not working out or sweating yet, which is annoying.”
After battling injuries, Raducanu stated in May that she will miss the French Open and Wimbledon in order to undergo “minor” surgery on her hands and left ankle.
The 20-year-old woman responded, “Some of them,” when the princess asked if she had seen a lot of tennis. However, I don’t watch too many because I think it’s still a little new.
After some fans waited in line for up to 10 hours on the first day of the tournament, Wimbledon apologised earlier in the day to those who had experienced lengthy delays.
Operations director at Wimbledon Michelle Dite reported that 11,500 people had joined the wait on Monday and that the high turnout and additional security measures had impeded admission into the grounds.
