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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Ashleigh Rainbird

Sir Cliff Richard toasts to 80th birthday by playing tennis with Davis Cup champ

Sir Cliff Richard celebrated his 80th birthday by going for a hit with a Davis Cup winner.

The singer played against James Ward, 33, on a court at Wimbledon after returning from Barbados.

Sir Cliff famously performed for crowds at the tournament in 1996 after rain stopped play.

He has been in quarantine on the Caribbean island but recently returned to the UK for a socially distanced birthday celebration.

The star, whose tour was postponed due to coronavirus, said: “I was planning to celebrate with 20,000 people at the Royal Albert Hall, but I had to whittle those numbers down to six.”

A clip on social media showed Sir Cliff drinking champagne surrounded by balloons and with party poppers being fired off around him.

Sir Cliff has also been recording the audio version of his autobiography, out this month.

It covers his legal battle with the BBC, which screened live footage of South Yorkshire Police raiding his Berkshire home.

Cliff Richard in the dressing room at the Palladium, with cards for his 20th birthday in 1960 (Mirrorpix)

He admitted this week he has struggled to retain his image due to the stress of the process.

“I remember waking up and thinking, ‘What happened to Peter Pan? I look like Rip Van Winkle,’” he told Woman’s Own.

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