Andy Murray
explained why he invited British-Iranian political prisoner Nazanin
Zaghari-Ratcliffe to Wimbledon.
The 2-time
Wimbledon champion started his campaign in the tournament in impressive
fashion. With a commanding victory over his compatriot Ryan Peniston, winning
6-3, 6-0, 6-1, he advanced to the second round for the 15th time in as many
appearances at the prestigious Grand Slam event.
Murray was watched
from the Royal Box by the Princess of Wales and 8-time Wimbledon champion Roger
Federer, who attended as a member of the All England Club. Murray's special
guest was Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian citizen who was detained
in Iran in 2016 and sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty
of conspiring against the Iranian government.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe
completed her sentence in 2021 but was later sentenced to an additional year in
prison. She was finally released in early 2023. During her confinement, she had
the opportunity to have a television in her cell to watch Wimbledon matches,
including those featuring former world No. 1 Andy Murray.
"It
felt like a connection, it felt like escape," said Zaghari-Ratcliffe last
year.
"I was
close to home all of a sudden," she added.
In the
post-match press conference, Murray spoke about the author and what led him to
invite her to experience tennis in a different way:
"Well,
firstly, she hadn't been to Wimbledon before. After, yeah, I spoke with her,
and the story she told me about watching my Wimbledon final while she was in a
cell, yeah, I felt like I wanted to invite her to come along and watch the
tennis in totally different circumstances," he said.
With the
victory over Peniston, Murray will face a challenging task against the 5th seed
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who defeated the former US Open champion in an exciting
five-set match in the first round.
