Wimbledon has always been the tournament of celebrity attendance. The respect that it commands over the tennis world is unparallel. From Sachin Tendulkar to Virat Kohli, to David Cameron, everybody has made their presence felt on centre court.
During the 2015 men’s doubles semi-final where the pair of Jamie Murray and John Peers were up against Jonathan Erlich and Philipp Petzschner. Elrich fired a serve down the ‘T’ and was called a fault. The crowd suddenly broke into a loud cheer which was unusual for a player faulting on a serve.
The players too paused their game and tried finding the source of the crowd’s applause. The ball had ricocheted off the linesman’s chair and landed into the crowd. The ball was caught by none other than the legendary David Beckham who was one of the many celebrities present on centre court during that match.
Almost embarrassed to turn into the centre of attraction out of the blue, Beckham promptly returned the ball and waved a sheepish hello to the crowd as well as to the players who discovered the reason for the crowd’s cheer.
Move on from Bend it like Beckham. If you can, catch it like him too!