At Wimbledon, England football fans found their attention wandering from the tennis during the World Cup thriller against DR Congo, with phones and earpieces aplenty. Security staff whispered about Marcus Rashford starting, and empty seats appeared on show courts by 4pm as fans left to watch the match.
Security staff whisper about football
A guard outside the media centre whispered to his colleague, "Rashford's starting." The colleague replied, "Rashford? Not Gordon?" This reflected the tension between Wimbledon's tennis focus and the football fever sweeping England.
No football screens at the All England Club
The All England Club's chief executive, Sally Bolton, said on Monday that they would not show the football on any TVs around the grounds, including the giant screens on the hill and in the South Village. This has become a tradition during football tournaments. In 2018, during the World Cup semi-final between England and Croatia, Wimbledon showed Kevin Anderson versus Roger Federer instead.
This year, on Centre Court, Barbora Krejcikova faced Mirra Andreeva; on No 1 Court, Félix Auger-Aliassime played Dino Prizmic; and on No 2, Jessica Pegula took on Sara Sorribes Tormo. The club puts returned tickets up for sale whenever anyone leaves for the day, and a glut became available around 4pm.
Empty seats and earpieces
Many seats were empty on Centre Court, and some spectators followed the football through discreet earpieces or second screens. Tim Henman said he would have it on in the commentary booth. Bolton added, "Clearly, if people have got their phones, then we're not going to prevent people from watching the football."
One steward was caught by his boss watching the pre-game on his phone while walking through a crowd. The media room became a popular spot, as TVs could be switched over. However, the All England Club replaced windows with frosted glass to stop people from peeking in, citing health and safety risks.
Fans react to England's goal
When England went 1-0 down in the seventh minute, someone cried out, "Oh fuck. You are shitting me." The hard stare from a nearby lady went unnoticed. Players have become used to this. When Novak Djokovic's third-round match against Alexei Popyrin clashed with England's Euro 2024 penalty shootout against Switzerland, fans cheered for Trent Alexander-Arnold's winning kick, forcing Djokovic to pause and mime a spot-kick.
Djokovic said, "You can sense there's a buzz going on. People are simultaneously looking at your match and also following their national team. It's normal. It's the football fever right now in these four to six weeks. We are also part of it. I like football. I follow everything that is going on. Obviously, it's nicer when you're by the TV than when you're playing, not everyone is focused on your match. But that's OK. That's what it is."
Wimbledon is a £500m championship, one of the largest annual sports events, yet the World Cup reminds everyone where tennis sits in the pecking order of English sporting obsessions.
