News | Pictures << Back to index British winner the stuff of fictionBy Guardian Reporter It was a day Tony and Jane Henman had been waiting for since the nation first pinned its hopes on their son.
A rapturous Centre Court crowd going berserk as they hailed the new British Wimbledon champion, 67 years after our last home-grown winner, Fred Perry.
Of course it was not Tim Henman, let alone any other modern British player, but merely the stuff of fiction.
Wimbledon, the Working Title film from the team which put together massive hits like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, shot its first crowd shots yesterday using the Centre Court crowd, including Heman�s parents, waiting for his second round clash with Michael Llodra. He later won in straight sets.
The 10,000 spectators cheered aging British player Peter Colt, who in the film has been given a wild card to play his last Wimbledon (played by Paul Bettany) walking on to Centre Court with his opponent Jake Hammond (played by Austin Nichols) before celebrating a five set thriller.
But despite director Richard Loncraine later refusing to say which round the match was supposed to be, the crowd cheered Bettany like he was already champion.
The actor, whose previous films include A Beautiful Mind, later said: "It was such a rush walking out on to the court. I was so nervous, like nothing I have ever experienced that and go out and play is extraordinary. The calm they must have� My legs wanted to buckle."
1:48pm Tuesday 1st July 2003
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