Eric Dier isn’t someone you’d normally expect to find watching junior action on an outside court at Wimbledon, but family friend Isabelle Lacy had his full support on Saturday night.
Lacy fought tooth and nail in her opening round match in the Girl’s Singles at Wimbledon, eventually battling past Joelle Lilly Sophie Steur in three sets.
And while a passionate crowd cheered her on throughout, there was one particularly notable supporter that stood out.
The Tottenham and England star and the rest of the Dier clan were among those watching the 15-year-old Londoner during her 6-4 4-6 6-4 victory, cheering Lacy on as passionately as anyone else crowded around Court 7, though – as Lacy revealed afterwards – this was no mere coincidence.
“His dad is really good friends with my mum,” she said.
“He’s got a massive family – I think he’s got about five siblings – and we know them all really well. All the siblings were there today so it was really fun having them. I haven’t seen them for a while, so it was really nice and I’ll go and catch up with them after!
“We know his family really well. He’s got a good tennis background. His dad was a member at my club. I saw him when I was walking out onto court and he gave me a wave and said he was coming to watch me. That adds to the nerves!
“It was really cool. I’ve listened to quite a few of his podcasts and he’s doing well. I watch quite a lot of his games so it was really fun to have him here.”
It was an emotional victory for Lacy, who first made headlines earlier this summer after qualifying for the ITF event in Surbiton.
Having had to balance tennis alongside studying for her GCSEs in recent months, she is now thrilled to be battling it out on court in SW19.
She added: “I’m on such a high. Honestly, that was the most exciting day of my life. The crowd was unbelievable, every point they were so behind me. I feel amazing.
“I literally completed my GCSE’s a couple of weeks ago. Surbiton was a really good week but my mind was on school – now I get to totally relax and enjoy my tennis this summer.
“I think with tennis you get a mindset – you do everything you do to the best you can. I didn’t give myself much slack during school work.
“I really worked hard and tennis, I played about 90 minutes a day. It’s nice to now have nothing to worry about and just play tennis.”
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