UK Edition
Whether it’s an autograph, a sweatband or even a towel, picking up a memento from a Wimbledon match can be the high point of many a young tennis fan’s day.
But one Wimbledon spectator put paid to that simple delight when he snatched a towel thrown by US player Jack Sock towards a teenage boy.
Footage from the match on Court 8 showed the middle-aged spectator determinedly wrestling the player’s towel away from the boy sitting one row behind him.
After the match Sock promised that if the teenager, thought to be from Ireland, came forward he would present him with a replacement towel to make up for his disappointment:
The towel snatching incident was the kind of ungentlemanly behaviour frowned on at the All England Lawn Tennis Club and it quickly prompted condemnation from players and fans.
Andrew Murray’s mother Judy certainly did not mince her words when she saw a replay:
She said it was the kind of incident which went against the sport’s efforts to encourage more children to get involved in tennis.
“I hope that somebody recognises him and comes forward with his name and that Jack Sock can give him a towel and it was lovely to see Jack Sock offering to do that,” she said.
“I know what it’s like for children and young people at Wimbledon. You want the whole thing to be a wonderful experience and you don’t want anybody to be going home disappointed so I think it was a lovely gesture of him and I hope he manages to find the guy.”
Judy Murray recalled how as an eight-year-old Andy was left bitterly disappointed when he failed to get an autograph of his then hero Andre Agassi, after spending all day waiting for him at Wimbledon’s practice courts.
“It had quite a big impact on him as a little kid. I think that’s one of the reasons why he’s so good at staying behind and signing everything for everybody because of the experience that he had,” she said.
The footage from Sock’s first round match against Christian Garin shows him glancing up at the teenager, who travelled to Wimbledon from Ireland, and throwing the towel towards him after he appeared to ask the player for it.
But the heavily-set spectator in a straw hat in front of him intervenes and grabs at the towel, pulling it down towards him, with what appears to be the help of a woman in a matching blue shirt sitting next to him.
Sock’s appeal for the teenager to contact him prompted the organisers of other Grand Slam tournaments to come forward with offers of towels, including the US Open and the Australian Open.
And the maker of the Wimbledon towels, Christy, followed suit, stating: “We would love to help out.”
Sock’s agent said that the teenager had subsequently got in touch with the player.
Mary Jane Orman, said: "The boy messaged Jack directly on Instagram and is from Ireland. He is gone home now but Jack invited him to his matches and said he will send him a towel."
The man in the hat may have got the towel, but the boy he snatched it from has got the glory.