ON the slopes of Mount Emmarest, the escarpment once known as Henman Hill, they clamoured for a view of the wild card and lucky loser on Centre Court.
And with football deity David Beckham watching from the Royal Box, Emma Raducanu delivered a straight sets win against Renata Zarazua but she was almost apologetic for "winning ugly" like England's footballers.
Britain's former US Open champion had posed in an England shirt to show her support for Our Boys at the Euros, and Beckham returned the compliment by treating his mum Sandra to a VIP day out at SW19.
He laughed at Raducanu's 'ugly' jibe and, like the thick blanket of cloud cover, she made heavy weather of her 7-6, 6-3 win over an opponent who was only summoned at the last minute.
Zarazua, a Mexican ranked No.95 in the world, answered the call after Russia's No.22 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova withdrew due to illness, and her rash of drop shots drove Raducanu to distraction.
This story is from the July 02, 2024 edition of Daily Mirror UK.
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This story is from the July 02, 2024 edition of Daily Mirror UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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