E-Paper
Watch: Brit tennis player Jodie Burrage offers Gatorade, candy to fainting ballboy at Wimbledon
Reacting to the incident, Burrage rushed over to the volunteer who was feeling faint, and offered him a sports drink and nutritional gel, following which a spectator joined and offered the boy a bag of candy.
Jodie Burrage may have lost her opening round match against Lesia Tsurenko at Wimbledon 2022 on Monday, but her gesture stood as the highlight of Day 1 in the elite grass court tennis competition. The British player was quick to react to an on-court adversity as she noticed a ballboy feeling unwell on the sidelines.
Reacting to the incident, Burrage rushed over to the volunteer, who was feeling unwell, and offered him a sports drink and nutritional gel, following which a spectator joined and offered the boy a bag of candy.
“Just tried to get him some sugar, gave him a Gatorade and a gel. The gel is not the nicest thing, so they managed to find some Percy Pigs somewhere along the line in the crowd, which he got down and then started to feel better,” Burrage was quoted as saying in a report by AP. “Hopefully he’s feeling better now,” she added.
The incident took place during the course of her match, which Burrage lost 2-6, 3-6. The match was stopped for approximately 10 minutes until the ballboy was helped off the court.
Burrage mentioned that she noticed the ballboy was feeling uneasy and wanted to help. “I just reacted how I think anyone would. He was not in a good spot,” she said. “I just tried to help him out as much as possible.”
More help came from the crowd in the form of the chewy candy.
“I definitely love a Percy Pig, that’s for sure,” Burrage said. “I was just like, ‘This kid needs sugar.’ He wasn’t liking the gel. I was like, ‘Yeah, definitely need something else.’ Someone just shouted on the side, ‘Got some sweets here if you want.’ They were Percy Pigs.”
This was Burrage's second first-round exit at Wimbledon after making her debut last year. She’ll now be seen in action in women’s doubles, where she'll partner Eden Silva.
“Really looking forward to that,” Burrage said. “Hopefully I can get over the line in that one.”
