Wimbledon at standstill for Tunisia massacre victims

The Wimbledon tennis championships fell silent on Friday to commemorate the victims of the Tunisia beach massacre, with tens of thousands of spectators coming to a standstill.

Play was delayed at the tournament in London to observe Britain's national minute's silence at midday (1100 GMT) to remember the victims of the gun attack a week ago, who were chiefly British.

Normally, play gets under way on the outside courts at 11:30 am, but Wimbledon officials put back the start until 12:15 pm to accommodate the silence.

Instead of the sound of umpire's calls, applause and the thud of racquets hitting tennis balls, a hush descended across the grounds.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the time is midday and the national one minute's silence in memory of the victims in Tunisia will now begin," an announcer said over the public address system.

The bustle of excitement ahead of the day's play came to a halt.
Two dozen police officers and security staff, who gathered at the foot of the popular Aorangi Terrace picnic hill, stood to attention.

The thousands of people soaking up the sun on the grassy terrace, who had been eating sandwiches, drinking wine and fanning themselves in the heat, spontaneously stood, many with their heads bowed.

In the walkways around Centre Court, tennis-goers came to a standstill.

Those who had taken their seats early on Court 2, including the normally boisterous Australian Fanatics supporters awaiting Nick Kyrgios's match, stood in silence.

Outside the gates, the queue to get in the grounds also stopped, with people bowing their heads.

"Thank-you for your consideration," the announcer said at the end of the silence, after which tennis-goers applauded.

- 'Right thing to do' -

"It was quite surreal. It's so busy and hustly and bustly, people just buzzing, then it suddenly goes quiet and it makes you think about what's happened," said Wimbledon first-timer Chris Schoeman, who is originally from South Africa.

Only the noise of an airplane could be heard at the start of the impeccably observed silence.
One Centre Court ticket holder from Oxfordshire in southern England, who declined to give her name, told AFP: "It was nice. It was quite respectful. I think everybody felt it was the right thing to do.

"Everybody I could see, including us, was standing still. A lot of people had their heads bowed."

Thirty of the 38 victims of the massacre in Port El Kantaoui, claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, were British holidaymakers, as were 25 of the 39 wounded survivors.

On the Aorangi Terrace, Janet Pearson, from Milton Keynes in southern England, who wore a striking hat featuring a mini tennis court, said: "It was quiet, it was quite moving. It's nice that everybody did stop because it wasn't just British people that lost their lives."

On Tuesday, Tunisian tennis star Malek Jaziri said jihadists were trying to kill the country's democracy and economy and urged tourists to stand with his homeland in facing down extremism.

"We are all the same and we are against terrorism," the Wimbledon competitor said.
Source: AFP