Former World No. 1 Andy Murray took to the grass courts at the All England Club. He began his journey to chase his third Wimbledon title and the crowd were thrilled to welcome their home boy.
Interestingly, Murray had invited a special guest who was seated in the Royal Box on the Centre Court. The guest was Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. She is a British -Iranian national and had spent six years in a jail in Iran. She was seated in the row behind the Princess of Wales and none other than Roger Federer.
Enthralling Guests in the Wimbledon Royal Box
The 44-year-old was born in Tehran. She studied English literature at the University of Tehran before going on to become an English teacher. In 2007, she moved to the United Kingdom as she received a scholarship to study for a Masters in Communication Management at the London Metropolitan University.
She was arrested on charges of spying, which she denied and was finally released last year. Nazanin is supported by her husband and her daughter. When she was in prison, she was kept in solitary confinement.
While she was in prison in 2016, her fellow jailers granted her access to watch two channels, the first being Iranian TV serials and Wimbledon matches. She even saw Andy lift his second Wimbledon title from jail.
Unique Experience for an Andy Murray Supporter
A while after she was released, she met Andy and told him about how happy she was to see him lift the title. Zaghari-Ratcliffe also explained to him about her struggle while she was prisoned.
Murray was happy to see her in the Royal Box and stated,
“I wanted to invite her to come along and watch the tennis in totally different circumstances,” Murray said. “I’m glad she could make it.”
Coming to tennis, Andy couldn’t have asked for a better start to kick off his Wimbledon campaign. He was playing the second match of the day two on the Centre Court. The 36-year-old player was up against fellow countryman Ryan Peniston. During the entire match, Ryan barely won four games. He was broken seven times on his serve.
Andy will be facing the winner of the Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas’ match. It will be a thrilling match no matter whom he faces. We wish him the best of luck for the remainder of the tournament.
