FAMOUS FACES WATCH EMMA RADUCANU AS WIMBLEDON BOSSES ADDRESS EMBARRASSING GAFFE

David Beckham watched on from the Royal Box on Centre Court as Emma Raducanu won her first round match at Wimbledon.

Beckham, 49, treated his mum Sandra, 75, to a day out at SW19 and they were joined in the box by some other famous faces. Sir David Attenborough, 98, received a standing ovation when he took his seat.

While Sir Trevor McDonald, 84, and opera singer Katherine Jenkins, 44, also watched on. It could have been an awkward encounter for Beckham and Jenkins - who was sat right behind him with her husband Andrew Levitas.

In leaked emails published in 2017, the ex-England captain allegedly slammed the singer for receiving an OBE in a message to his PR manager, as he also lamented not receiving a knighthood.

One was alleged to have said: “Katherine Jenkins OBE for what? Singing at the rugby and going to see the troops plus taking coke. F****** joke.”

On the court, Raducanu, 21, beat lucky loser Renata Zarazua, 26, from Mexico in straight sets. After a nervy first set which she won on a tie break, Raducanu joked afterwards that she was inspired to win ugly by England’s footballers.

Grinning from ear to ear, Raducanu, who missed last year through injury, said: “It was an incredibly difficult match. It took a lot of strength to get over the line.

“I just want to say thank you to everyone for the support in some crucial moments. I really enjoyed playing back here.

“I’m incredibly happy to be back here of course. I was for sure nervous...but at the end of the day you have to do what it takes to get over the line and honestly watching the football last night, it was like winning ugly.

The BBC cameras cut to a laughing David Beckham as the crowd cheered and Emma added: “It all counts!”

She continued when asked about the huge support she received upon her return: “Yeah it’s incredible, I think there’s just such a great buzz in the summer time although today’s a bit cloudy.

“I think the tennis, the football, the Formula One...it just really uplifts myself and I think it’s such an amazing atmosphere to be a part of, and my motivation is to just keep on coming back here playing and feel that buzz.”

Thousands had earlier streamed into Wimbledon for strawberries and Pimm’s on the first day of the 2024 Championships - and what could be farewell to Sir Andy Murray.

If he plays, tomorrow it could be his last singles match at the All England Club. Following recent back surgery the former world number one was leaving it as late as possible to decide if he was fit enough to take to court.

Wimbledon CEO Sally Bolton hinted yesterday (Mon) that Sir Andy could join Fred Perry in having a statue somewhere in the grounds at SW19 once his playing career is over.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon organisers were left red-faced when their AI-generated player profiles were called out for being incorrect.

Raducanu was described as the British number one, when she is third, while Zhang Shuai and Daria Kasatkina, 35 and 27 respectively, were described as “up and coming”.

A spokesman for the AELTC said: “The ‘Catch Me Up’ feature is a first-of-its-kind pilot within sport, delivered in partnership with IBM. This AI innovation will naturally continue to evolve as the system’s capability builds, with the assistance of human checks.

“This feature complements the traditional breadth of rich editorial content created by our team of writers who provide in-depth coverage of The Championships for audiences around the world.”

2024-07-01T18:06:25Z dg43tfdfdgfd