Watch, bag and money missing… Items stolen from tennis players’ room at Wimbledon Open

New Delhi: The warm-up matches of the Wimbledon Open, starting next week, are on. One of the four Grand Slams, an unpleasant incident of theft happened with two players who had come to play in this prestigious tournament. World number 15 Diego Schwartzman and number 49 player Pedro Martinez both had their faces stolen from the room of the hotel where they were staying.

Both the players are staying at Hydro Hotel on the South Coast, where the incident took place. Sussex Police issued a statement saying, ‘The incident is of 20 June i.e. Monday. The theft took place in two different rooms. Along with the cash, valuable watches, bags and some personal belongings are also missing. At present we do not have much more information, but the accused will be caught as soon as possible.

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Following the theft, tennis legend Martinez barely played a match against Alejandro Davidovich on Tuesday as that was what was swirling in his mind. I could not sleep on the stolen night. It was difficult to prepare for the match, but I tried to focus on just playing. The hotel is doing its own investigation.

Asked how you came to know about the theft, Martinez says, ‘When I entered the room, I realized that my watch was not there. I searched all over the room, couldn’t find it and when I went to the reception to talk to the people, Diego also came after 15 minutes to complain about the incident.’

Martinez and Schwartzman both entered matches against Brits Ryan Peniston and Jack Draper on Wednesday. Speaking about why the watch means so much to him, Martinez explained, “I bought it when I first made it to the third round at Roland Garros (in 2020). It’s an emotional moment for me.