LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) – Kate, Britain’s Princess of Wales, mingled with the crowds at Wimbledon on Thursday and lent her support to the British hopefuls playing in the warm London sunshine.
Dressed in a blue trouser suit, the 44-year-old wife of heir to the throne Prince William watched Arthur Fery, one of the last Britons remaining in the draw, in his early games against Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen on Court 18. The 23-year-old wildcard went on to win 5-7 7-6(3) 6-3 6-3.
In a courtside interview, a delighted Fery said he might have felt more nervous had he realised royalty was in the house.
“I didn’t know she was here. I probably would have been a bit more tight if I did,” the French-born Fery said.
“There is lots of support at home in the U.K. so it’s fantastic to play in front of them. It’s great to do it for the U.K. Selfishly I am doing it for myself first – but I’m always behind the other players and wishing them success.”
The princess later switched to Court One, accompanied by double Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, where Katie Swan was battling 26th seed Madison Keys of the United States.
But the 27-year-old Swan, also a wildcard after slipping low in the rankings following a back problem that threatened her career, could not capitalise on the royal support and went down 6-1 6-4.
Keys, the 2025 Australian Open champion and a quarter-finalist twice at Wimbledon, arrived fresh from taking the Eastbourne grasscourt title and was just too powerful for Swan.
The princess, who is an enthusiastic tennis fan and patron of the All England Club, earlier talked to people who had been queuing since the early hours to enter the grounds and chatted to workers in the ticket office.
Only four British players reached round two of the singles after 15 of the 19 in the main draws lost in the opening round — the highest number since 1988.
Fery is now flying the flag solo after defeats later in the day for Jacob Fearnley and Jan Choinski.
Fearnley lost to Spain’s Jaume Munar 6-4 7-6(3) 6-4 while Choinski briefly looked capable of keep Fery company in the third round but went down 4-6 6-2 7-5 6-2 to American 17th seed Frances Tiafoe.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar, Clare Lovell and Martyn Herman in London; Editing by Alison Williams and Clare Fallon)
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