LONDON.- Some of Britain’s top tennis players are trying to avoid talking about the election like they avoid double faults in Wimbledon.
The polling stations opened early this Thursday in the United Kingdom for their first national election in almost five years, but British stars are only talking tennis at the All England Club.
Jack Draper says he has no interest in politics. Katie Boulter doesn’t want to talk about it. A smiling Emma Raducanu said the day before the election that she “didn’t even know it was tomorrow.”
Draper, 22, who is Britain’s highest-ranked male singles player, gave a blunt answer when asked if he was interested in politics: “No.”
On an important day for British tennis players, Draper faces his compatriot Cameron Norrie in the second round. He has no intention of following the elections.
“I mean, it’s an incredibly busy day for us tennis players. We can’t watch a lot of TV. There’s no time to be thinking about that,” he said Tuesday. “Obviously it’s very important, so we’ll see.”
Not interested at all:
Boulter, Britain’s top female tennis player, declined to answer questions about the election.
“To be honest, I am here to focus on tennis. I don’t necessarily understand what the correlation is between the two,” she said at a pre-tournament press conference on Saturday. “Of course it is an important moment for our country, but I will think about it later off the court.”
Hundreds of thousands of people voted by mail before in-person voting began Thursday. Polls close at 10 p.m.
Liam Broady, who has spoken publicly on political issues, said he voted by mail. Broady is originally from Stockport on the outskirts of Manchester.
Wimbledon is the third Grand Slam of the year.
Source: With information from AP
