Tim Henman was shocked to be pulled over by police officers in south west London after leaving the Wimbledon site on Wednesday night after Jannik Sinner’s victory
British tennis legend Tim Henman was surprised to be stopped by the police after leaving Wimbledon on Wednesday night.
Henman is working as a pundit for the BBC at the All England Club and was driving home after covering Jannik Sinner’s win over Matteo Berrettini on Centre Court when he was stopped. The 49-year-old was allowed to drive on after a brief encounter and, after returning to Wimbledon on Thursday, he explained what happened.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I was driving home late last night, about quarter to 12 and I saw the flashing lights about a hundred yards behind me. I was driving and thought, ‘well, I’ll just pull over and let them scuttle on by’.
“And all of a sudden the police car was next to me. So, I wound down the window and there was a policewoman driving and a policeman in the passenger seat and they said: ‘Where have you come from?’ And I said: ‘Er, Wimbledon.’
“And the woman officer said: ‘[We’ve had] reports of a Range Rover that has been fleeing the scene of an incident’, at which point the officer in the passenger seat turned to her and said: ‘I don’t think it was him.’ I thought, okay perfect.”
Henman has become a fixture of the BBC’s coverage of tennis over the years, having first joined the broadcaster for Wimbledon in 2008. He is one of the most recognisable faces in the sport, having reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon four times as a player, and is extremely familiar with the All England Club, where he is a member.
He told the Evening Standard in 2021 that, although he lives in a small village south of Oxford with his wife Lucy, he stays in Barnes during the Championships. Henman used to live in Barnes with his wife and three daughters – Rosie, 21, Liv, 19, and Gracie, 16 – before moving to Oxfordshire in 2004, where he now co-owns a pub.
The area around the Wimbledon site on Church Road is closely controlled by stewards during the competition, which runs from July 1 to 14 this year.
Henman was back on the BBC One on Thursday afternoon, providing analysis alongside Nick Kyrgios and Andrew Castle for Jack Draper’s match against fellow Brit Cameron Norrie on Court One.
