Former England captain David Beckham captured the attention of tennis fans as he attended the first day of Wimbledon with his mother on Monday
Aryna Sabalenka wasted no time in acknowledging David Beckham after progressing to the second round of Wimbledon. Following her 6-2 6-3 victory over Serbian teenager Teodora Kostovic on Centre Court, she made a point of recognising that Sir David was among the spectators in the Royal Box.
Beckham was in the crowd, while his son Romeo watched from another section of Centre Court, as the former footballer opted to bring his mum to Wimbledon’s opening day. Both applauded as the three-time semi-finalist swept aside her youthful opponent.
Sabalenka expressed her gratitude to the crowd for their support, before pausing and turning towards Beckham. She said: “Sir David, thank you for being here.”
Sabalenka also offered generous praise for her opponent, who is widely regarded as a future star of the sport. The world No.1 said: “She brought a really good fight. She stepped in a little more in the second set.
“She pushed me a bit more. I’m happy I was able to close it in straight sets. I totally get it. Playing for the first time on Centre Court, it’s a lot of pressure. But I’m pretty sure she’ll deal with that much better next time.
“I think we all get nervous. It’s just part of our lives. You kind of block that part of your brain and kind of try to focus on yourself. I think with experience I learned how to deal with nerves and expectations a bit better.
“I have to say for the first match I felt pretty good. I’ll rate myself… let’s say 8 out of 10?”
Beckham shared the Royal Box with a host of well-known faces, including Mary Berry, Ronan Keating and Katherine Jenkins, the latter of whom the footballer previously spoke about in a leaked email. The Welsh singer was at the centre of controversial comments made by Beckham, which surfaced nine years ago.
Following Jenkins being awarded an OBE in the 2014 New Year’s Honours for her contributions to music and charitable work, while Beckham himself was passed over for a Knighthood, the former England captain vented his frustration in a leaked email to his advisor.
“Katherine Jenkins OBE for what?” the email read. “Singing at the rugby and going to see the troops plus taking coke. F***ing joke.”
In 2018, Jenkins admitted feeling hurt by Beckham’s comments and said the former Manchester United star had not reached out to apologise.
Buy Wimbledon 2026 VIP tickets from Seat Unique
Wimbledon 2026 is just around the corner and Seat Unique has tickets on sale now with VIP access.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login