Sir Andy Murray has said it is “brilliant” that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who watched his Wimbledon win from a prison in Iran seven years ago, came to see him play on Centre Court on Tuesday.
British-Iranian dual national Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was freed in March last year after six years of detention in Iran.
She met Sir Andy in December last year, when she recalled watching him win Wimbledon in 2016 as she was in solitary confinement, saying he offered a “connection” to her life outside prison and an “escape” from her detention.
Reporters at a press conference after the tennis star’s win on Tuesday heard that Sir Andy invited Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe to watch him play against fellow Briton Ryan Peniston on Centre Court.
He said: “It was brilliant she was able to come along. I got to see her very briefly after the match.
“I spoke to her a while back and found it very emotional talking to her and hearing her story.”
He added: “She seemed happy that I got the win.”
Explaining why he wanted Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe to see him play, he said: “Well, first she hadn’t been to Wimbledon before and after I spoke with her and the story that she told me about watching my Wimbledon final (while) she was in a cell, I felt like I wanted to invite her to come along and watch the tennis in totally different circumstances and hopefully a much more enjoyable experience.”
The pair had an emotional meeting last year in which Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe said: “When I was first arrested I was in Evin prison in solitary confinement, and for about five months they didn’t allow me to have any books or newspapers.
“There was a TV in the cell I was in but it was off the entire time, and then at some point they decided to let me use the TV but it only had two channels.
“One of them was rubbish Iranian-made soap opera all the time, which was very low quality.
“The other one was a sports channel, which they thought, this was probably a way to just give them something but not quite something.
“Then I put it on, the first thing that was on was Wimbledon that day and that year, 2016.
“They had no idea what they had given me because I was always a big fan of you, but also there I was in solitary confinement watching the match you actually won in the end.”
The Princess of Wales and Sir Andy’s old foe Roger Federer were also in the Centre Court stands on Tuesday, as the two-time champion took apart countryman Ryan Peniston with a 6-3 6-0 6-1 victory under the roof to ease into the second round of Wimbledon for the 15th consecutive time.
