11th July 2025

Watching Wimbledon’s tennis championships you expect to see wonderful tennis, perhaps hear some reference to the All-England Club hosting the event, maybe a mention of strawberries and cream… but this year there seems to be ‘a bit of a thing’ about good manners among the crowds watching.

Player after player in post-match interviews at the court-side have thanked the spectators for their good-natured support. They have found it both a privilege and a joy to showcase their sporting talent in front of such well-mannered enthusiasts. Apparently at other Grand Slam and major tournaments, fans are partisan in support of their favourite players to the point of being rude and ill-mannered toward their opponents.

The British have a world-wide reputation for being well-mannered and polite. Tennis legend and women’s rights campaigner Billie-Jean King in conversation with BBC presenter Clare Balding at Wimbledon:-

CB:   all players playing a Brit have said to the crowd ‘Thank You’ for not being mean – crowds in America can be a bit mean.

B-J K: not just America… probably everywhere else in the world, but here it’s different. We talk about England and Great Britain, and how polite people are. It’s actually refreshing and wonderful – it’s a nice break for us.

Coming here for her and, no doubt, many of her American compatriots, both players and fans, is reckoned a ‘nice break’ from a society which appears to have deteriorated into one great slanging match. ‘Well done, Wimbledon!’

But what isn’t said is that this is all a reflection of respect for others, whoever they may be, each cared for by their Creator.

David Bell