Security at Wimbledon is “absolutely critical”, the tournament’s operations director has said, after a player raised concerns about a spectator during the championship’s first day.
During her match on Monday, the world No 33, Yulia Putintseva, raised security concerns to the umpire about a spectator whom she described as “crazy” and “dangerous” and asked for them to be ejected.
“Take him out, because maybe he has a knife and he will attack after, I don’t know,” Putintseva said to the umpire during her match against Amanda Anisimova.
Wimbledon’s operations director, Michelle Dite, said on Tuesday that if players had any concerns, they “absolutely” should be brought to light.
“We would rather know about these things, and that is what happened yesterday, and the chair umpire then had some really good communication as planned,” said Dite, adding that it was not a stalking incident.
A person present at the match told the Athletic that the spectator at issue had been speaking in Russian about the war in Ukraine. Putintseva, who was born in Russia, changed to represent Kazakhstan in 2012.
A Wimbledon spokesperson declined to say if the spectator was ejected. “Security was in the area. The issue was dealt with,” he said. The incident is the latest surrounding security measures after a man who was given a restraining order in Dubai in February for stalking Emma Raducanu was blocked from buying tickets for the championships this month in the public ballot.
Dite said: “Protocols were followed. The matter was dealt with.”
On Tuesday morning, more than 10,000 spectators queued outside the grounds with fans and umbrellas to watch British players including Jack Draper, a top contender for the men’s singles championship.
On Monday, more than 13,000 people entered the grounds after queueing in the heat, some overnight, as opening-day attendance jumped to 42,756 from 40,514 last year. Protesters on the ground’s outskirts called for a boycott of Wimbledon’s banking partner, Barclays, over ties to Israel’s war on Gaza.
Temperatures on Tuesday reached 34.2C (93.6F) by early afternoon, as spectators frequently sought shade and were encouraged to hydrate after a woman collapsed while watching a match on Monday.
Dite, discussing the incident on Monday during which Carlos Alcaraz interrupted play to hand a struggling spectator a bottle of water, thanked the returning Wimbledon champion for his support and acknowledged there had been a delay in the medical response.
“Yes, it did take a while, but this lady had fainted, so it needed to be managed very carefully. I know there was a bit of delay but we all work very hard,” said Dite.
“It takes a while sometimes to just assess the situation,” she added. “And thanks to Carlos for his support for going to get some water.”
Daniel Evans was the first British player to go through to the second round of Wimbledon on Tuesday after defeating Jay Clarke in an all-British clash. Draper eased into the second round after his opponent Sebastian Baez retired injured, while wildcard Jack Pinnington Jones completed a straight-sets victory over Tomás Etcheverry.
Six Britons – Clarke, Heather Watson, Johannus Monday, Jodie Burrage, George Loffhagen and Francesca Jones – suffered first-round exits.
