LONDON (AP) — Olivia Rodrigo. John Cena. Dave Grohl. Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas. There was as much star power — or maybe even more? — in the Royal Box at Wimbledon as there was down below on the Centre Court grass on Wednesday.
And that was on an afternoon that featured two-time defending men's champion Carlos Alcaraz, No. 1-ranked woman Aryna Sabalenka, and 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu of Britain all winning matches at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament’s main stadium to reach the third round.
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Musician Dave Grohl his wife Jordyn, centre, and actor Leslie Mann sit in the Royal Box at Centre Court during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Indian actress Priyanka Chopra and her husband Nick Jonas arrive in the Royal Box at Centre Court during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, right, and English actor Dominic Cooper sit in the Royal Box at Centre Court during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Singer Olivia Rodrigo, left, Olympic gold medallist Tom Daley, center, and wrestler John Cena sit in the Royal Box at Centre Court during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Singer Olivia Rodrigo smiles as she sits in the Royal Box at Centre Court during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
“It's so special in the Royal Box to have those kind of people in there. It definitely adds a bit of pressure, I guess, if you look up and you kind of recognize (them),” Raducanu said. “That’s why I try and stay with my eyes on the court as much as possible. Only after, you kind of look up and take it all in, if they’re still there.”
The seats in the Royal Box behind one of the baselines are by invitation only, and there was quite a list of celebrities on hand for Day 3 of competition.
“I was trying not to look today,” Sabalenka said about the collection of boldfaced names, explaining that she might be distracted while competing. “I was just trying to focus on my game. Later on, I’m going to open the social media (and ask), ‘OK, who was there?’”
Well, Aryna, here's a rundown:
Rodrigo, fresh off headlining at music festival Glastonbury while on tour for her GUTS album, sat next to Cena, the professional wrestler and movie star. Rodrigo chatted at one point with former England soccer coach Roy Hodgson (the current person in that job, Thomas Tuchel, also was in attendance).
Grohl, a member of the rock bands Foo Fighters and Nirvana, made an appearance, too, as did the married couple Chopra and Jonas. Hollywood's Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, who also are married, were on the Royal Box list, along with actor Dominic Cooper.
Others taking in a day of tennis at the most famous court in the world included British athletes from other sports, such as Olympic gold medalists Sophie Bray (field hockey) and Tom Daley (diving), and Paralympic gold medalist William Ellard (swimming).
Oh, and there was actual British royalty there Wednesday: Princess Michael of Kent.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Musician Dave Grohl his wife Jordyn, centre, and actor Leslie Mann sit in the Royal Box at Centre Court during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Indian actress Priyanka Chopra and her husband Nick Jonas arrive in the Royal Box at Centre Court during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, right, and English actor Dominic Cooper sit in the Royal Box at Centre Court during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Singer Olivia Rodrigo, left, Olympic gold medallist Tom Daley, center, and wrestler John Cena sit in the Royal Box at Centre Court during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Singer Olivia Rodrigo smiles as she sits in the Royal Box at Centre Court during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
JERUSALEM (AP) — Over two dozen families from one of the few remaining Palestinian Bedouin villages in the central West Bank have packed up and fled their homes in recent days, saying harassment by Jewish settlers living in unauthorized outposts nearby has grown unbearable.
The village, Ras Ein el-Auja, was originally home to some 700 people from more than 100 families that have lived there for decades.
Twenty-six families already left on Thursday, scattering across the territory in search of safer ground, say rights groups. Several other families were packing up and leaving on Sunday.
“We have been suffering greatly from the settlers. Every day, they come on foot, or on tractors, or on horseback with their sheep into our homes. They enter people’s homes daily,” said Nayef Zayed, a resident, as neighbors took down sheep pens and tin structures.
Israel's military and the local settler governing body in the area did not respond to requests for comment.
Other residents pledged to stay put for the time being. That makes them some of the last Palestinians left in the area, said Sarit Michaeli, international director at B’Tselem, an Israeli rights group helping the residents.
She said that mounting settler violence has already emptied neighboring Palestinian hamlets in the dusty corridor of land stretching from Ramallah in the West to Jericho, along the Jordanian border, in the east.
The area is part of the 60% of the West Bank that has remained under full Israeli control under interim peace accords signed in the 1990s. Since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in October 2023, over 2,000 Palestinians — at least 44 entire communities — have been expelled by settler violence in the area, B'Tselem says.
The turning point for the village came in December, when settlers put up an outpost about 50 meters (yards) from Palestinian homes on the northwestern flank of the village, said Michaeli and Sam Stein, an activist who has been living in the village for a month.
Settlers strolled easily through the village at night. Sheep and laundry went missing. International activists had to begin escorting children to school to keep them safe.
“The settlers attack us day and night, they have displaced us, they harass us in every way” said Eyad Isaac, another resident. “They intimidate the children and women.”
Michaeli said she’s witnessed settlers walk around the village at night, going into homes to film women and children and tampering with the village’s electricity.
The residents said they call the police frequently to ask for help — but it seldom arrives. Settlement expansion has been promoted by successive Israeli governments over nearly six decades. But Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government, which has placed settler leaders in senior positions, has made it a top priority.
That growth has been accompanied by a spike in settler violence, much of it carried out by residents of unauthorized outposts. These outposts often begin with small farms or shepherding that are used to seize land, say Palestinians and anti-settlement activists. United Nations officials warn the trend is changing the map of the West Bank, entrenching Israeli presence in the area.
Some 500,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank since Israel captured the territory, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. Their presence is viewed by most of the international community as illegal and a major obstacle to peace. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state.
For now, displaced families of the village have dispersed between other villages near the city of Jericho and near Hebron further south, said residents. Some sold their sheep and are trying to move into the cities.
Others are just dismantling their structures without knowing where to go.
"Where will we go? There’s nowhere. We’re scattered,” said Zayed, the resident, “People’s situation is bad. Very bad.”
An Israeli settler herds his flock near his outpost beside the Palestinian village of Ras Ein al-Auja in the West Bank, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A Palestinian resident of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank burns trash, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Palestinian children play in the West Bank village of Ras Ein al-Auja, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
