LONDON (AP) 鈥� There are no World Cup games shown at 鈥� even when England is playing 鈥� but the Centre Court crowd was clearly finding ways of following some of the footy anyway.
Loud cheers that had nothing to do with tennis broke out three times during the third set of Barbora Krejcikova’s win over Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday in the second round of the Grand Slam tournament. The first two were for Harry Kane’s goals that helped England come from behind in Atlanta, and the third was for the final whistle.
Andreeva, the French Open champion who , seemed a bit confused as she shook her head ruefully when the first cheers broke out between points at 2-1 鈥� although perhaps that was because her opponent had just saved a break point.
鈥淲as there a football match?鈥� Andreeva said after. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know that.鈥�
The All England Club has a policy of not showing any soccer games on the screens inside the Wimbledon grounds during major tournaments like the World Cup or European Championship. That was the case even when England played in the final of the last two Euros 鈥� in 2021 and 2024.
But there are no rules against fans watching the games on their own devices during matches.
鈥淚f people have got their phones then we鈥檙e not going to prevent people from watching the football,鈥� Sally Bolton, the chief executive of the All England Club, said before the tournament started.
On Henman Hill, where fans gather to watch the Centre Court match on a big screen, there were plenty of fans with their phones out, watching the England game and the tennis at the same time.
Andreeva showed plenty of frustration during that third set and threw her racket in anger after losing but said she was not annoyed by the crowd paying attention to the soccer game.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 feel like they were super loud,” she said. “They (cheered) when she was still going to the baseline to return, so it didn鈥檛 bother me at all.鈥�
Krejcikova also didn’t realize that the cheers weren’t related to the tennis match.
鈥淚 thought it was for us,鈥� she said. “I wasn鈥檛 really thinking that there is obviously a football game. I didn鈥檛 really pay any attention to that. … I was just focusing on serving, returning, playing my game.”
Coco Gauff had already wrapped up a three-set victory on No. 1 Court before England’s comeback, but she couldn’t escape noticing the cheers reverberating through the grounds before going to her post-match news conference.
鈥淚 think England scored,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 heard that.鈥�
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