There was delight for British tennis fans at Wimbledon on Tuesday as Andy Murray sailed through to the second round. But thousands received refunds from the championships, after rain forced the cancellation of all outer – court matches.
Ten years since he first won Wimbledon, Murray, who now has a metal hip, told the roaring Centre Court crowd that it had been a long time since he had felt “physically this good”.
The Princess of Wales, Roger Federer and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe watched from the royal box as the 36-year-old secured a 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 victory over fellow Briton Ryan Peniston. Murray was joined in the second round by Cameron Norrie, who beat the Czech Tomáš Macháč 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
“It was amazing to have some royalty here, but also some tennis royalty as well,” said Murray, prompting laughter from his former rival Federer.
Home fans hoping to cheer on a host of British players were left disappointed, however, after heavy showers meant play was suspended after about an hour’s action on all courts bar Centre Court and Court One for most of the afternoon, forcing organisers to cancel 69 matches.
After a day that caused a run on ponchos in the official Wimbledon shop, organisers announced that all ground passes bought before 5pm – as well as ticket holders for courts 2 and 3 – would receive a full refund.
It is expected to cost Wimbledon in excess of £250,000. When asked why the tournament had made the move, when its own rules say viewers are only entitled to a 50% refund if they have seen over an hour of play, a spokesperson said: “We are very generous at Wimbledon.”
It was a salve to the disappointment felt by those who had travelled to the two-week event, the highlight of the year for British tennis fans.
“I didn’t even see a point,” said Ollie Neale, 24, a tennis coach visiting SW19 with his team CourtX. “We went to watch Andy on the hill, but we had to move because my trousers got so wet.”
Neale and his boyfriend, Alfie Reynolds, 20, who both coach for Pride in Tennis, were celebrating their first anniversary, having kissed on Henman Hill for the first time last year. “We’ve enjoyed the day anyway,” said Neale. “Anywhere else it would have been terrible.”
Adrian White, 51, who had travelled from Edinburgh to watch Murray on Centre Court, was brimming with pride at his countryman’s performance. “Andy was brilliant and looked on great form – I think he’s got every chance to get to the final,” he said. White’s wife, Helen – sporting a union jack dress – added: “It felt special, you don’t know how long he can keep going, so we wanted to see him while we still can.”
In a post-match press conference Murray said it was “brilliant” to see Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has spoken of her “joy” at watching him play while she was imprisoned in Iran. “I got to see her very briefly after the match,” said Murray. “I found it very emotional talking to her and hearing her story […] she seemed happy that I got the win.”
The former US Open champion Emma Raducanu was also at SW19, but told the Princess of Wales that her injuries meant she was unable to train until next month. “It’s rehab so light exercises but not sweating or working out yet, which is annoying,” she said.
Raducanu announced in May that she would miss the French Open and Wimbledon because she was having “minor” surgeries on her hands and left ankle after struggling with injuries.
The princess asked her if she had watched much tennis but the 20-year-old replied: “Some of them. But I’m not watching too many because I feel like it’s a bit fresh right now.”
Earlier in the day Wimbledon apologised to those who had faced long delays on the opening day of the tournament, after some people queued for up to 10 hours.
Michelle Dite, the operations director at Wimbledon, said 11,500 people had joined the queue on Monday and the large attendance plus extra security measures had slowed entry into the grounds.
