LONDON – Olivia Rodrigo. John Cena. Dave Grohl. Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas. There was as much star power — or maybe even more? — in the Royal Box at Wimbledon as there was down below on the Centre Court grass on Wednesday.
And that was on an afternoon that featured two-time defending men's champion Carlos Alcaraz, No. 1-ranked woman Aryna Sabalenka, and 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu of Britain all winning matches at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament’s main stadium to reach the third round.
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“It's so special in the Royal Box to have those kind of people in there. It definitely adds a bit of pressure, I guess, if you look up and you kind of recognize (them),” Raducanu said. “That’s why I try and stay with my eyes on the court as much as possible. Only after, you kind of look up and take it all in, if they’re still there.”
The seats in the Royal Box behind one of the baselines are by invitation only, and there was quite a list of celebrities on hand for Day 3 of competition.
“I was trying not to look today,” Sabalenka said about the collection of boldfaced names, explaining that she might be distracted while competing. “I was just trying to focus on my game. Later on, I’m going to open the social media (and ask), ‘OK, who was there?’”
Well, Aryna, here's a rundown:
Rodrigo, fresh off headlining at music festival Glastonbury while on tour for her GUTS album, sat next to Cena, the professional wrestler and movie star. Rodrigo chatted at one point with former England soccer coach Roy Hodgson (the current person in that job, Thomas Tuchel, also was in attendance).
Grohl, a member of the rock bands Foo Fighters and Nirvana, made an appearance, too, as did the married couple Chopra and Jonas. Hollywood's Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, who also are married, were on the Royal Box list, along with actor Dominic Cooper.
Others taking in a day of tennis at the most famous court in the world included British athletes from other sports, such as Olympic gold medalists Sophie Bray (field hockey) and Tom Daley (diving), and Paralympic gold medalist William Ellard (swimming).
Oh, and there was actual British royalty there Wednesday: Princess Michael of Kent.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis