British Celebrities Cheer Andy Murray Wimbledon Win

LONDON -- Celebs, British or otherwise, cheered Scottish tennis star Andy Murray's triumph on Sunday at London's famous Wimbledon tournament. His three-set victory over Novak Djokovic meant the first British Wimbledon men's singles title since Fred Perry in 1936.

Among the tennis fans seen in the Wimbledon stands Sunday during the BBC's live coverage were Hollywood star Bradley Cooper and Gerard Butler, who just like Murray is Scottish and was repeatedly shown cheering him on.

The Wimbledon men's final also attracted other high-profile Brits, including Victoria Beckham, soccer star Wayne Rooney and Prime Minister David Cameron.

PHOTOS: Stars at Wimbledon: J.K. Rowling, Matthew Morrison, Pippa Middleton Among Fans at the Tournament

Talent manager and Idol franchise creator Simon Fuller, who manages Murray as head of XIX Entertainment, was also in the Wimbledon stands. Others took to Twitter following Murray's win.

"Oh my God. What a match, what a player. Inspiring a Nation. Andy Murray!! Ya Beauty," tweeted Ewan McGregor.

Author Salman Rushdie said: "Andy Murray, first Briton to win Wimbledon wearing shorts! (77 yrs ago Fred Perry wore long trousers.) Bravo Andy! Great shorts! And shots!"

Author and comedian Stephen Fry quipped: "So happy I did a little wee."

And Victoria Beckham ?tweeted: "Congratulations to @andy_murray and his family. Wonderful day at #wimbledon!! So proud to be British! X vb."

Even Hugh Grant chimed in. "A propos of nothing in particular, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that I'm Scottish," he tweeted.

Congratulations also came from fellow tennis stars. "Pretty sure @andy_murray might have to change his twitter name to @sirandymurray...Well played and deserved!" tweeted Andy Roddick.

Music star Cliff Richard and TV star/chef Gordon Ramsay had expressed hope before the match that Murray would win.

"It's hard to tell who is going to win, but my heart says please let him have it this time, because he is good enough to win it," Richard told ITV.

And Ramsay tweeted: "Good luck today @andy_murray. Fingers crossed. #wimbledon"

"I understand how much everyone wanted to see a British winner at Wimbledon, so I hope you enjoyed it," Murray told the BBC after his victory.

Several places in London, including bars and shopping centers, had shown the final on big screens for free. For example, hundreds of people were shown in TV reports following the game on a screen near Tower Bridge. And at Victoria's Cardinal Place shopping center, restaurants sold refreshments throughout the day and drew a crowd with the final, ITV reported.

In Wimbledon itself, large crowds were shown turning out on a scorching-hot day on the so-called Murray Mount to watch the action on a giant screen.

Security staff told supporters around midday that there was no space left on the mount but directed them to another screen that had been set up on court two, ITV reported.

Nadal loses to 135th-ranked player at Wimbledon

LONDON — In one of Wimbledon’s greatest upsets, an ailing Rafael Nadal was knocked out in straight sets Monday by a player ranked 135th — the Spaniard’s first loss in the opening round of a Grand Slam event.

Steve Darcis of Belgium stunned the two-time champion 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4. He ended Nadal’s 22-match winning streak and eliminated one of the Big Four of men’s tennis on the very first day of the grass-court Grand Slam.

Nadal was sidelined for seven months with a left knee injury after losing in the second round of Wimbledon last year. He seemed to be struggling physically. He was unable to turn on the speed or use his legs to spring into his groundstrokes, limping and failing to run for some shots.

Darcis was as surprised as everyone else with the result.

“Rafa Nadal didn’t play his best tennis today,” the 29-year-old Belgian said. “The first match on grass is always difficult. It’s his first one. Of course, it’s a big win. I tried to come to the net as soon as I could, not play too far from the baseline. I think it worked pretty good today.”

Nadal was coming off his eighth championship at the French Open last month but, on this day, he never looked like the player who has won 12 Grand Slam titles and established himself as one of the greatest players of his generation.

It’s the second straight early Wimbledon exit for Nadal, who was ousted in the second round last year by 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol.

After that loss, Nadal took the rest of the year off to recover from the knee problem. Since returning to action this year, he had made it to the finals of all nine tournaments he entered, winning seven.

After winning the French Open, Nadal pulled out of a grass-court tuneup in Halle, Germany. He came to Wimbledon without any serious grass-court preparation.

Darcis is the lowest ranked player to beat Nadal at any tournament since Joachim Johansson — ranked No. 690 — defeated the Spaniard in 2006 in Stockholm.

Gustavo Kuerten, in 1997, was the last reigning French Open champion to lose in the first round at Wimbledon.

Darcis, who had won only one previous match at Wimbledon, played the match of his life Monday, going for his shots and moving Nadal from corner to corner. Darcis amassed a total of 53 winners, compared with 32 for Nadal.

Darcis finished the match in style, serving an ace down the middle — his 13th — as Nadal failed to chase after the ball.

Earlier, Roger Federer began his bid for a record eighth title at the All England Club with the same dominance that has defined his grass-court greatness.

Ten years after his first Wimbledon championship, Federer opened the tournament on Centre Court as defending champion and looked right as home as he dismantled Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-3, 6-2, 6-0.

This was a grass-court clinic from Federer that lasted 68 minutes. He had 32 winners, seven aces and just six unforced errors.

He won 90 percent of the points when he put his first serve in. When his serve is clicking, Federer usually is unbeatable. On this day, he won his first 15 service points and 24 out of the first 25.

“I’m happy to get out of there early and quickly,” Federer said. “So it was a perfect day.”

Earlier, Wimbledon produced an upset in the women’s draw with fifth-seeded Sara Errani eliminated by Puerto Rican teenager Monica Puig 6-3, 6-2.

Second-seeded Victoria Azarenka overcame a right knee injury from a scary fall beating Maria Joao Koehler of Portugal 6-1, 6-2.

 

Rafael Nadal Loses In First-Round Upset At Wimbledon

Steve Darcis of Belgium, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal of Spain Monday, after winning their first-round match at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

 Steve Darcis of Belgium, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal of Spain Monday, after winning their first-round match at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.


Rafael Nadal has been bounced from Wimbledon, after being dismissed in three sets by Belgium's Steve Darcis, who is ranked No. 135 in the world. Nadal's upset loss by 7-6(4), 7-6(8), 6-4 stunned tennis fans, shook up the men's bracket, and raised questions about the Spanish star's health.

Nadal, 27, has been hampered by knee problems in recent years. But he refused to blame Monday's loss — his first ever in a Grand Slam tournament's opening round — on a possible injury. He struggled with his backhand Monday and never took control of a match that lasted nearly three hours.

By contrast, Darcis played well from the start, with an effective serve and slicing shots that gave Nadal trouble.

Another factor in the match may have been Nadal's comfort level playing on grass. After winning the clay-court French Open earlier this month, Nadal didn't play in any of the grass-court tournaments many players use to adjust to the surface.

"Rafa Nadal didn't play his best tennis today," Darcis said after his win. "The first match on grass is always difficult. It's his first one. Of course, it's a big win. I tried to come to the net as soon as I could, not play too far from the baseline. I think it worked pretty good today."

Calling it "a well-deserved victory for Darcis," ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe noted that Nadal is sometimes seen as vulnerable early in tournaments, particularly on grass. And he noted that Nadal's knee didn't seem to be an issue until late in the match.

Asked about his fitness after the loss, Nadal instead took the opportunity to congratulate Darcis for playing well. He told reporters, "This is not the time to talk about these sort of things. I don't want to talk about my knee."

"I tried my best out there in every moment. It was not possible for me," Nadal said. "It is not a tragedy."

If he had advanced as many expected, Nadal would have been on track to meet seven-time champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. Federer, who defeated Scotland's Andy Murray for last year's title, won his first match of the 2013 tournament by beating Victor Hanescu in three sets.

Because Nadal was seeded fifth at Wimbledon — a slot that matches his current world ranking — the Spaniard was placed in the same side of the bracket with Federer and Murray, leaving world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to contend with No. 4 seed David Ferrer, among others.

A two-time winner at Wimbledon and an eight-time champion at the French Open, Nadal was also upset last year at the All England Club, in Wimbledon's second round. After that loss, he took the rest of the tennis season off to recuperate his knee.

"Last year I played here because it is a tournament that I love, but I was not ready to play," Nadal said the day before his match with Darcis. "After Roland Garros I felt that my knee was not there anymore. After here I was not able to complete in one more tournament during the rest of the season."

5 Things to Watch at Wimbledon on Monday

LONDON — Five things to watch at Wimbledon on Monday, Day 1 of the grass-court Grand Slam tennis tournament:
1. FEDERER, MURRAY, NADAL GET STARTED: Three of the men who comprise what’s often referred to as tennis’ Big Four are scheduled to play Monday. Seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, who won the 2012 title, is up against Romania’s Victor Hanescu in the first match of the year on Centre Court. Andy Murray, last year’s runner-up, renews his bid to give Britain its first male champion in 77 years by taking on Germany’s Benjamin Becker (best known, if at all, for beating Andre Agassi in the American’s last professional match, at the 2006 U.S. Open). And Rafael Nadal, twice the champion at Wimbledon, plays his first match at the All England Club since last year’s surprising second-round loss, facing Belgium’s Steve Darcis. The No. 2-seeded Murray, No. 3 Federer and No. 5 Nadal all wound up on the same half of the draw, which is why they all start on the same day, prompting this wisecrack from No. 1 Novak Djokovic, safely ensconced on the other half: “Well, I think it’s going to be a great Monday for tennis.”
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2. SHARAPOVA LETS RACKET DO THE TALKING: Two of the women other than top-seeded Serena Williams given any chance of winning Wimbledon this year are 2004 champion Maria Sharapova and two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka. Sharapova will follow Federer onto Centre Court for a first-round match against 37th-ranked Kristina Mladenovic of France. Sharapova, seeded third, helped add some extra juice to the tournament with a verbal jab in response to comments attributed to Williams in a recent magazine story. Azarenka, seeded second, opens the Court 1 schedule against 106th-ranked Maria Joao Koehler of Portugal, who is making her Wimbledon debut and only has won two main-draw, tour-level matches anywhere.
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3. YOUNG AMERICANS FACE OFF: There are two matches that both pit a pair of young American women against each other. The most intriguing is 17th-seeded Sloane Stephens (who beat Williams en route to the Australian Open semifinals in January) against 25th-ranked Jamie Hampton (who beat 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova to reach the French Open’s fourth round this month). Stephens is 20; Hampton is 23. While their match is last on Court 18, the last match on Court 10 is 70th-ranked Christina McHale against 147th-ranked Alexa Glatch. McHale is 21; Glatch is 23.
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4. OLD CHAMP IN ACTION: The last man other than Federer (seven titles in the last 10 years), Nadal (two) and Djokovic (one) to win Wimbledon was Lleyton Hewitt in 2002. The former No. 1-ranked Hewitt also won the 2001 U.S. Open, beating Pete Sampras in the final. Hewitt is now 32, and ranked 70th, after a series of injuries derailed his career. But Hewitt knows his way around a grass court: His seven tournament titles on the surface are tied with Boris Becker for the fifth-most in the 45-year Open era and second to Federer’s 13 among active men. Hewitt could present some problems on Court 1 for 11th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka.
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5. NADAL’S NEMESIS AND OTHERS TO KEEP AN EYE ON: With such a full slate scheduled for Monday — all told, 64 singles matches — there are plenty of places to find something interesting. The guy who shocked the tennis world a year ago by eliminating Nadal in five sets under Centre Court’s closed roof, Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic, will be out on Court 19. John Isner, the 18th-seeded American forever linked to his all-sorts-of-records-breaking 70-68 fifth-set victory over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010, is in action on Court 14. And Mahut — whose first ATP title came at the age of 31 by beating Wawrinka in the final at Rosmalen, Netherlands, on Saturday — will be on Court 5.