Wimbledon diary: Sir Ian McKellen takes in the tennis and fans pack Henman Hill

Glasgow Times

08-07-2025

Actor Sir Ian McKellen, who starred as The Lord of the Rings character, watched Aryna Sabalenka battle back to reach the women's semi-finals before taking in Cameron Norrie's quarter-final defeat to defending men's champion Carlos Alcaraz.
The 86-year-old was joined in the Royal Box by fellow thespians Sir Mark Rylance, Sienna Miller, Jodie Foster and Richard E. Grant, singer Katherine Jenkins and coffee magnate Giuseppe Lavazza.
Jodie Foster joined a host of fellow actors in the Royal Box on day nine of Wimbledon (Ben Whitley/PA)
Former cricketer David Gower was among those representing the world of sport, while Scotland and Napoli midfielder Scott McTominay and Arsenal duo Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber enjoyed the action from less exclusive seats.
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American 13th seed Amanda Anisimova celebrated progression to the semi-finals with a special guest.
The 23-year-old was accompanied by nephew Jaxon for her post-match interview on Court One following a 6-1 7-6 (9) win over Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Jaxon, who turns four on Thursday, only arrived in the UK on Tuesday morning.
After ensuring his long trip was worthwhile, Anisimova said: 'My sister and her husband are also here and I'm super grateful that they flew in and got to experience this with me – it doesn't happen often.'
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The tension on Centre Court during Sabalenka's match against Laura Siegemund was broken when a mobile phone began to ring.
The usual accompanying tuts and moans from other spectators grew louder when it became apparent no one could turn off the annoying ring tone.
One unfortunate spectator was rifling through her bag trying to find the offending item.
But it turned out to have been left behind by someone else and they were trying to locate it remotely. The phone was eventually found under a seat and handed to a member of security.
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Henman Hill was rammed late on Tuesday afternoon.
Henman Hill was packed on Tuesday evening (Ben Whitley/PA)
Fans were glued to the big screen, with the majority cheering on British number three Norrie in his efforts to pull of a major upset against world number two Alcaraz.
Barely a spare blade of grass was available as other spectators queued to join them.
Quote of the day
'I'm more for line umpires, to be honest. Sometimes it's scary to let machines do what they want, you know (smiling)?' – Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov joined the growing list of players to question Wimbledon's electronic line calling system following a malfunction during his quarter-final loss to Taylor Fritz.
Picture of the day
Aryna Sabalenka uses an ice pack to cool down during her quarter-final win over Laura Siegemund. The world number one reached her third Wimbledon semi-final by overcoming a one-set deficit and then recovering from a break down in the decider (Ben Whitley/PA)
Wednesday's match of the day
Teenage Russian Mirra Andreeva has been one of the standout performers in the women's draw.
The 18-year-old, who is coached by 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, is bidding to reach a second grand slam semi-final and has been given another Centre Court slot after shining in front of Roger Federer on Monday during her fourth-round defeat of Emma Navarro.
Standing in her way is 2021 Olympic champion Belinda Bencic.
Mirra Andreeva is the youngest player left in the women's draw (John Walton/PA)
The 28-year-old Swiss player is also enjoying her best run at SW19, having missed last year's tournament after giving birth to daughter Bella in April 2024.
Wednesday weather watch
Sunny changing to partly cloudy by night time, according to the Met Office. Highs of 28C.