Wimbledon brings out Beckham, Sharapova, other stars on Day 1

Sabalenka powers past Branstine in opener

FE Team | Published: June 30, 2025 21:23:58

English former football player David Beckham (R) and England's former head coach Gareth Southgate (L) arrive on the Royal box ahead of the men's singles first round tennis match between Spain's Carlos Alcaraz and Italy's Fabio Fognini on the first day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on Sunday-AFP

LONDON, June 30 (Agencies): David Beckham and Maria Sharapova were among the stars of sports and screen at Wimbledon on Monday for the start of the tournament.
Sharapova, the 2004 champion at the All England Club at age 17, posted a selfie with Beckham on Instagram with the caption: "Let the (Wimbledon) games begin" with an emoji of a tennis balls.
Sharapova will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame later this year.
Former England soccer captain Beckham was on the list of guests expected to attend Centre Court matches on Day 1. Others included Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne and former England soccer coach Gareth Southgate.
Beckham is the only player to score for England at three World Cups. He is the co-owner of American club Inter Miami, which is led by Lionel Messi and was eliminated Sunday from the Club World Cup in the United States with a 4-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain.
Meanwhile, top seed Aryna Sabalenka overcame Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine on a sweltering Court One to get her quest for a first Wimbledon title up and running with a 6-1 7-5 win on Monday.
With the thermometer soaring above 30 degrees Celsius, the Belarusian turned up the heat early to win the opening five games.
But Branstine, who juggles her time between the tennis courts and working as a model, earned loud applause when she got on the scoreboard and although Sabalenka eased to the first set, the second was an intense duel of fierce baseline rallies.