Centre Court crowd at Wimbledon keeps one eye on England's World Cup match
There are no World Cup games shown at Wimbledon — even when England is playing — but the Centre Court crowd was clearly finding ways of following some of the footy anyway
LONDON (AP) — There are no World Cup games shown at Wimbledon — even when England is playing — but the Centre Court crowd was clearly finding ways of following some of the footy anyway.
Loud cheers that had nothing to do with tennis broke out three times during the third set of Barbora Krejcikova's win over Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday in the second round of the Grand Slam tournament. The first two were for Harry Kane's goals that helped England come from behind to beat Congo 2-1 in Atlanta, and the third was for the final whistle.
Andreeva, the French Open champion who ended up losing 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, seemed a bit confused as she shook her head ruefully when the first cheers broke out between points at 2-1 — although perhaps that was because her opponent had just saved a break point.
“Was there a football match?” Andreeva said after. “I didn’t know that.”
The All England Club has a policy of not showing any soccer games on the screens inside the Wimbledon grounds during major tournaments like the World Cup or European Championship. That was the case even when England played in the final of the last two Euros — in 2021 and 2024.
But there are no rules against fans watching the games on their own devices during matches.
“If people have got their phones then we’re not going to prevent people from watching the football,” Sally Bolton, the chief executive of the All England Club, said before the tournament started.
On Henman Hill, where fans gather to watch the Centre Court match on a big screen, there were plenty of fans with their phones out, watching the England game and the tennis at the same time.
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Andreeva showed plenty of frustration during that third set and threw her racket in anger after losing but said she was not annoyed by the crowd paying attention to the soccer game.
“I didn’t feel like they were super loud," she said. "They (cheered) when she was still going to the baseline to return, so it didn’t bother me at all.”
Krejcikova also didn't realize that the cheers weren't related to the tennis match.
“I thought it was for us,” she said. "I wasn’t really thinking that there is obviously a football game. I didn’t really pay any attention to that. ... I was just focusing on serving, returning, playing my game."
Coco Gauff had already wrapped up a three-set victory on No. 1 Court before England's comeback, but she couldn't escape noticing the cheers reverberating through the grounds before going to her post-match news conference.
“I think England scored,” she said. “I heard that.”
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