Sir Andy Murray has said it is “brilliant” that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who watched his Wimbledon win from a prison in Iran seven years ago, came to see him play on Centre Court this year.
British-Iranian dual national Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was freed in March last year after six years of detention. She met Sir Andy in December last year and recalled watching him win Wimbledon in 2016 from solitary confinement, saying he offered a “connection” to her life outside prison and an “escape” from her detention.
Reporters at a press conference after the tennis star’s win on Tuesday heard that he had invited Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe to watch him play against fellow Briton Ryan Peniston on Centre Court.
He said: “It was brilliant she was able to come along. I got to see her very briefly after the match. I spoke to her a while back and found it very emotional talking to her and hearing her story. She seemed happy that I got the win.”
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe watched Sir Andy's victory in illustrious company, sat in the Royal Box beside Catherine, Princess of Wales and tennis legend Roger Federer. Federer, an eight-time Wimbledon champion, was honoured with a Centre Court ceremony earlier on Tuesday after retiring in 2022.
Asked to expand on why he wanted to invite Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe to see him play, Sir Andy said: “Well, first she hadn’t been to Wimbledon before.
"After I spoke with her and the story that she told me about watching my Wimbledon final (while) she was in a cell, I felt like I wanted to invite her to come along and watch the tennis in totally different circumstances and hopefully a much more enjoyable experience.”
The pair had an emotional meeting last year in which Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe said: “When I was first arrested I was in Evin prison in solitary confinement, and for about five months they didn’t allow me to have any books or newspapers.
"There was a TV in the cell I was in but it was off the entire time, and then at some point they decided to let me use the TV but it only had two channels. One of them was rubbish Iranian-made soap opera all the time, which was very low quality.
“The other one was a sports channel, which they thought, this was probably a way to just give them something but not quite something. Then I put it on, the first thing that was on was Wimbledon that day and that year, 2016.
“They had no idea what they had given me because I was always a big fan of you, but also there I was in solitary confinement watching the match you actually won in the end.”
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