Latest news with #JohnLloyd
Daily Mirror
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Wimbledon and BBC legend was saved from drowning in bath by fellow player
Sue Barker was present as British tennis legend John Lloyd recalled how he almost died in a Wimbledon bath before being saved by a fellow player who needed the toilet A British tennis legend almost died following a gruelling five-set loss at Wimbledon. Sue Barker, who presented the BBC's Wimbledon coverage for more than two decades, has retold the alarming story involving former colleague John Lloyd. Barker has made a nostalgic return to the tournament this year after stepping back from her broadcasting role in 2022. In partnership with Emirates Airlines, the ex-French Open champion was tasked with ensuring every corner of the prestigious venue was in tip-top shape ahead of the championship. What the popular presenter doesn't know about SW19 isn't worth knowing. Her book 'Wimbledon: A Personal History', which hit the shelves in 2024, recalls her experiences and anecdotes from the world's most famous tennis tournament. Amongst the myriad of tales, one particularly striking account involves Lloyd, the BBC commentator, former British No.1 and ex-Davis Cup captain. In 1976, Lloyd had a horrifying brush with death following a defeat at Phil Dent. Barker wrote: "One thing Wimbledon does so well is The Last 8 Club, a sort of club within the Club that welcomes all players who have ever reached the singles quarter-finals, the doubles semi-finals or the mixed-doubles finals.. "There are refreshments available all day, a six o'clock happy hour and an annual dinner, which I discovered attracts about 70 former players each year. "It was my first appearance here, and I joined Billie Jean, Rosie Casals, Christine Janes, Tracy Austin and the 1974 finalist Olga Morozova; as well as Mark Woodforde, Jan Kodes, Peter Fleming, Fred Stolle and Chris Lewis, the finalist from 1983. "We had such a laugh at dinner. John Lloyd and I both gave speeches, as did Chris. I told stories from my memoir, Calling the Shots, and Lloydy, who is a great raconteur, told the tale of how he nearly died in the men's locker room at Wimbledon after one cruel defeat. "He had lost a four-hour, first-round, five-set match to Phil Dent - a nightmare result for a Brit fancied to do well at Wimbledon, as he was in 1976 - and then done the exhaustive rounds of media that a home player used to have to endure (these days there are time limits and players can take a shower and have a massage before facing the press). "It was 9pm when he got to the locker room and found it empty. As he tells the story, he ran a deep, steaming hot bath and wallowed in it, going over in his mind all the crucial points of his match, angry that he had lost it. When he reached for the soap, his hand cramped, and soon he had seized up all over with an excruciatingly painful full-body cramp. "'I was sliding down into the water. I was sinking, I was going to bloody well drown in the Wimbledon bath,' he recalled. "And then he had us in stitches. "'It's funny what goes through your mind at such moments,' he said. 'My life should have been passing before my eyes, but my ego took over and I started to imagine the headlines in the newspapers the next day: British player commits suicide in bath after devastating loss.' "Luckily for Lloydy, a former player had dashed into the locker room bursting for a pee after a Wimbledon cocktail party - and the urinals were close to the bath. His distress was noted and he was safely hauled out of the water, and lived to tell the tale." Before Barker's return to Wimbledon, she dismissed the idea of her leading coverage of the grand slam for a different TV channel. CityAM reported that Barker was asked at an event whether she would ever present Wimbledon for a rival broadcaster, which she quickly dismissed.
The Sun
02-07-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
‘This is ridiculous… it's wrong' – BBC pundit slams Wimbledon star after he controversially leaves Cam Norrie in lurch
A BBC pundit slammed Wimbledon star Frances Tiafoe for his controversial move against Cameron Norrie. The American took the opening set before the British ace fought back to win 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-5. 6 6 6 With Norrie in the driving seat after the third, Tiafoe left the court for a legal bathroom break. But the 12th seed took an absolute age to return and it infuriated BBC commentator John Lloyd. He accused Tiafoe of trying to kill "the momentum of the game" during the stoppage that lasted just over seven minutes. Lloyd said: "We have seen this before with players. "They come off at 2-1 down, go and have a bathroom break, change of shirt break, they come back and play completely differently. "Maybe it is what he needs, to get away from it all and recharge. "But this, to me, I don't agree with this at all. I think this is wrong. "This is ridiculous, I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous." JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 6 Wimbledon 2025 LIVE - follow all the latest scores and updates from a thrilling fortnight at SW19 Lloyd's co-commentator Andrew Castle joked: "Maybe he has forgot his pants and is going to come back on with a fresh [pair]." Norrie sat down patiently waiting throughout as Lloyd suggested: "If I was him I would go out and hit a few serves." When Tiafoe was finally ready to restart the match, Castle added: "Now, where were we? What day is it?" There is a five minute limit in place when players use the bathroom. But they are only on the clock once they enter the facilities and not on their slow stroll there and back. Tiafoe's possible gamesmanship did not work as Norrie clinched victory in the fourth set. The 2022 Wimbledon semi-finalist will play the winner of Jiri Lehecka vs Mattia Bellucci on Friday. 6 6
BBC News
26-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Wimbledon 2025: Carlos Alcaraz and the art of court positioning
Whether it is forehand, backhand or a slice, knowing what type of shot to play and when is key to winning tennis so too is a player's position on the court - with the very best in the world knowing where to be to anticipate a return, or to gain a few more valuable seconds to plan their next are better masters of this art than Carlos Alcaraz, who is proving to be one of the most complete players on the tour at the won the French Open in his final match of the clay season, the 22-year-old Spaniard transitioned to grass seamlessly by winning Queen's for the second time last sets him up perfectly for the pursuit of a third title in a row at Wimbledon, where his dominance of the court will once again come to the fore."He is so exciting," former British number one John Lloyd told BBC Sport."He is so quick, lightning quick, groundstrokes are huge both sides. He has one of the best volleys on the tour, his serves are getting better and better."He is a showman and a great entertainer." From all over to behind the baseline - the evolution of play To understand a bit more about why five-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz is so good it is worth checking back on how tennis has changed over the styles have gone from almost every part of the court being covered by a player to the game now being predominantly fought out from behind the improvements in grass maintenance will undoubtedly have played a part, this evolution can be seen in images from Wimbledon over the years, with more patches of wear evident on more areas of the grass in the 1970s and 1980s compared to more recent statistics that show the decline of the serve-and-volley game do seem to correspond with the changes to where grass wear at Wimbledon can be 2002, serve-and-volley points in the men's draw accounted for 32.6% of total service points won, but by 2018 that figure was down to 6.93%.Evolution of the equipment used will have contributed to this eventual drop, with the development of modern racquets and strings making it easier to hit powerful groundstrokes from the baseline. 'He takes the tour to new levels' - how Alcaraz dominates the court The above detail is relevant because Alcaraz has shown he is adept at both styles of last year's men's final at Wimbledon, the old and the new guard were matched up for the second year in a row as Alcaraz faced 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Alcaraz dictated play with his speed and movement, causing Djokovic to lose confidence in his ability to live with his opponent from the back of the court and instead rush to the was a trap that worked as Djokovic won just 50.9% of his points at the net, compared to 72.7% for the younger man was just as strong when staying on the baseline where once again his quick movement and powerful ball striking was too much for Djokovic, who was placed under near constant pressure by Alcaraz."In that final, Djokovic was only able to generate three break points and won one, whereas Alcaraz was able to generate 14 break points and won five, so there was constant pressure on him," says Craig O'Shannessy, tennis analyst and founder of Brain Game Tennis, who has worked with Djokovic."And from the ground stroke department Alcaraz had too much firepower from the back, hitting 21 forehand winners while Djokovic hit six."With the backhand, Alcaraz hit 10 winners compared to three for Djokovic. The offence was very much controlled by Alcaraz in that final." Alcaraz's dominance of the court was once again on show at Queen's and, at 22, he has already won four grass-court titles - as many as compatriot Rafael Nadal secured in his of course, was the 'King of Clay' given his brilliance on that surface, but Alcaraz is showing proficiency on all court types."It is never a letdown with this player," said former British number one Andrew Castle, who was commentating on the Queen's tournament."Expectation every time he plays is always high and it is just supreme performances lately week in and week out.""His movement is incredible," adds O'Shannessy."His acceleration from the first two or three steps helps him get to balls other players can't, and then also his recovery out of the shot is incredibly fast as well."When I saw him up close and personal for the very first time, I was blown away. I didn't think people could move that well on a tennis court."He takes the tour to new levels with what's possible with movement on a court." Video analysis and warm-up tricks - getting the edge on an opponent Being able to anticipate a player's movement on the court and the type of shots they will probably play is key to securing victory, which is why someone as unpredictable as Alcaraz is so hard to play players fall into familiar patterns of play and studying those becomes important in attempting to secure the edge."Gabriel Diallo is a guy I work with and he was playing in Majorca recently, and for his match with Jaume Munar I sent a detailed game plan to him on how to face him," says O'Shannessy."Things I'll usually show will include where the serve's going, what kind of serve he likes to hit, and then where on the court he's more vulnerable to make errors, particularly forehand errors. Because they happen more often than anything else."Another important battleground can be the warm-up. Rather than being - as it may seem to those watching - just two players getting ready for the match, it also presents an opportunity to see how the opponent will react to certain types of shots."In the warm-up you may want to disguise the type of shots you want to hit," adds O'Shannessy.'I think it's probably more of an advantage at the club level because you don't necessarily know the opponent or have scouting on them."So it's a really good time to hit them some different balls, some high balls, some low balls, some fast balls, some slice, and then monitor where they hit that." Can anyone stop Alcaraz? Alcaraz heads to Wimbledon looking to complete a hat-trick of titles and, having won his past 18 matches in a row, he is in a strong position to do just number one Jannik Sinner - who lost out to Alcaraz in an epic French Open final earlier this month - will be looking to stop him, as well as Djokovic, the runner-up in the past two Wimbledon they will know they face a tough task against a player in form."When he's on it, he is the most complete player of his age I have ever seen," Lloyd says of Alcaraz."You look at him already and he's the finished package."Castle is similarly impressed, adding: "He is setting new standards along with Jannik Sinner, the current number one."The game is in good hands."
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The earliest the Fed will cut rates is Sept., this expert says
Janus Henderson Investors portfolio manager and global head of multi-sector credit, John Lloyd, joins Market Domination to discuss Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments and to take a closer look at recent bond market moves. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination here.
The Sun
19-06-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
‘He's very lucky' – Tennis star's racquet almost flies into Queen's Club spectator in shocking scenes
A TENNIS star was lucky not to injure a fan at Queen's after a freak incident. Jakub Mensik took on Roberto Bautista Agut in the last 16 in West London on Wednesday. 5 5 5 Despite taking the first set, the No8 seed - who beat Cameron Norrie in round one - suffered a shock defeat. And the 19-year-old's frustrations were clear to see when he netted a backhand on the run. Mensik swatted his tennis racquet down towards the grass court - not down into the turf. But as his arm swung through, the handle slipped from his grasp and flew out. The racquet then bounced down into the grass and over the backboards into the front rows of the stand behind the Andy Murray Arena court. Thankfully, the seats directly behind Mensik were vacant and therefore the racquet did not strike a spectator. Instead, it was passed back by over the hoardings by a bloke in the crowd. Had the racquet hit someone, Mensik would have almost certainly been defaulted - even though it would be an accident. BBC Sport commentator John Lloyd said: "Uh oh, uh oh. "That could have caused injury, there. Former Wimbledon champion resurfaces in viral ad with Rafael Nadal three years after bombshell retirement "He didn't mean it - it slipped out of his hands on to the court. "That could have hit the lady right in the third row and that would have been an automatic default. "He's very lucky, there." Mensik was handed a code violation for unsportsmanlike behaviour by British umpire James Keothavong. Incredibly, it is not the first time Mensik has avoided being disqualified in very similar fashion. At the 2024 Miami Open, he threw his racquet in anger and only just avoided hurtling the frame into a ballboy in "scary" scenes. A year later, Mensik announced himself on the world stage by beating Novak Djokovic in the 2025 Miami Open final, his maiden ATP Tour crown and denying the Serbian his 100th career title. And in another quirk, Mensik planned to pull out of the Miami Masters event because he was unwell before playing his first-round match... against Bautista Agut. 5 5
