Dustin Hoffman and 'cricket royalty' Sachin Tendulkar among celebrities at Wimbledon

LONDON (AP) — American actor Dustin Hoffman and cricket great Sachin Tendulkar were among the celebrities at Wimbledon on Friday to watch defending champion Jannik Sinner play Novak Djokovic on Centre Court.

British actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugh Laurie and Damian Lewis watched from the Royal Box, as did fashion designer Tom Ford and Anna Wintour.

Tendulkar, considered one of the greatest cricketers ever, retired in 2013 after playing in his 200th test match. Wimbledon called him “ cricket royalty.” Another former cricket star, Brian Lara of the West Indies, was also in the Royal Box, an area reserved for special guests invited by the All England Club.

Netherlands defender and Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was also a guest. The Dutch were eliminated at the World Cup in the round of 32.

The 88-year-old Hoffman wasn't in the Royal Box, though he was a guest there in 2024.

Earlier on Centre Court, Alexander Zverev advanced to Sunday's final by beating British wild card Arthur Fery.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Actor Hugh Laurie, left, attends the royal box on day 12 of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Actor Damian Lewis attends the royal box on day 12 of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Former West Indies cricketer Brian Lara watch the men's singles semifinal match between Arthur Fery of Britain and Alexander Zverev of Germany from the Royal Box on Centre Court at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch applauds as he watches the men's singles semifinal matches from the Royal Box on Center Court at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Netherlands football player Virgil van Dijk watches the men's singles semifinal matches from the Royal Box on Center Court at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Fashion editor Anna Wintour, centre, film director Baz Luhrmann, left and fashion designer Tom Ford watch the Arthur Fery of Britain against Alexander Zverev of Germany men's singles semifinal match from the Royal Box on Centre Court at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Former Indian cricket player Sachin Tendulkar sits in the Royal Box as he watches the men's singles semifinal matches on Center Court at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Actor Dustin Hoffman watches a Alexander Zverev of Germany defeats Arthur Fery of Britain during their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Two transgender girls who were the first to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” have withdrawn their lawsuit in New Hampshire based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld state bans on transgender athletes in girls' sports and their own personal hardships, their lawyer said.

“This case was always about two courageous young girls who simply wanted the same opportunities as their peers to participate in school life,” their lawyer, Chris Erchull of GLAD Law, said in a statement Thursday. “Their willingness to stand up to extraordinary hostility made clear the human cost of laws that target transgender youth.”

The teenagers, Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, took on Trump’s executive order last year, amending their 2024 complaint against New Hampshire's law on banning transgender girls from school sports. A federal judge had granted a court order allowing them to play as the case proceeded.

For Tirrell, it meant being able to keep playing on her high school girls’ soccer team. For Turmelle, it was having a chance to try out for different sports.

Both sides agreed to pause the case and wait for a ruling from the Supreme Court as it considered similar state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school and college athletic teams in Idaho and West Virginia. Last month, the court upheld the laws. It also said that barring transgender girls and women doesn’t run afoul of the federal law known as Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education.

Turmelle and her family moved out of New Hampshire last summer following proposed legislation against transgender people. One measure signed into law by Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte last year prohibits medical professionals from providing puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy to new transgender patients under age 18.

“Though there may be a carve-out for people already receiving gender-affirming care, that is way too close a call for us to risk staying,” Turmelle's mother, Amy Manzetti, wrote in an op-ed piece at the time. “Other New Hampshire laws also seek to erase her.”

Most Republican-controlled states in the past five years have adopted laws or policies limiting gender-affirming care for transgender minors and limiting which school bathrooms transgender people can use, as well as sports restrictions. The Williams Institute at UCLA estimates that about 3% of youth ages 13 to 17 identify as transgender.

“The challenges with relocation are significant and burdensome — this includes having to find new employment, buying and selling homes, packing and moving possessions, integrating kids with a new school system, losing access to longstanding family and friends, and potential loss of income,” Corinne Goodwin, the executive director of Eastern PA Trans Equality Project in Pennsylvania, said in an email.

"But these families do so because they love their kids and know that supporting them with the care and opportunities they need is critical to their long-term success and happiness.”

Tirrell, 17, began her junior year last fall on the girls' junior varsity soccer team. Things were fine at first, and each time she scored a goal, she got a round of ice cream from her parents. But a few weeks into the season, she decided to stop playing.

“With all of the political stuff going on, soccer wasn't just about the game anymore,” her mother, Sara Tirrell, told The Associated Press in an interview.

It became more about preparing for the possibility of conflict.

“Were there any local Facebook groups where they were sort of agitating about potential protests and how do we prepare, and what are we walking into, and we never kind of knew,” she said. “We were on a lot of pins and needles, especially after the previous season."

She was referring to a controversy at an away game where two dads from an opposing team were banned from school grounds for wearing pink wristbands marked “XX” to represent female chromosomes. They sued the school district and a judge ruled against them. They have appealed their case.

Last fall, there was an increased presence of school administrators at the games and bus drivers pulled in closer to the field so the students weren’t in the parking lot, she said.

“Parker didn’t talk about it a lot, but I think she could see that stress for everybody — for her, for her teammates, for her coaches,” Sara Tirrell said. "She felt kind of bad about pulling them all into that circus again. And so she ultimately said, ‘This isn’t fun anymore and I don’t want to do it.’”

Parker’s father described the atmosphere as “palpable tension.”

Even playing on her own turf, “there would typically be a couple of police officers at the home games where there weren’t previously,” Zach Tirrell said.

In the past, Parker also played soccer in a recreation league and could still do so.

“But I think it all kind of still sort of weighs on her,” her mother said. "It's the same group of kids that she plays with who, honestly, have been very supportive and love to have her on the team and have expressed that to her many times over. But I think she still has that worry in her brain around, ‘What are other people going to say and do if I show up at a game?’”

Parker's parents hope she'll return to playing soccer some day. In the meantime, “she plans to be around and use her voice to continue standing up to discrimination,” her mother said. “In some ways she’s had to grow up a lot faster than some of her peers.”

Associated Press reporter Geoff Mulvihill in Haddonfield, New Jersey, contributed to this article.

FILE - Parker Tirrell, a transgender athlete who plays on her high school's girls soccer team, practices in the driveway of her family home, Friday, March 7, 2025, in Plymouth, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

FILE - Two teens challenging New Hampshire's new law banning transgender girls from girls' sports teams, Parker Tirrell, third from left, and Iris Turmelle, sixth from left, pose with their families and attorneys in Concord, N.H., Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Holly Ramer, File)

FILE - Iris Turmelle walks with her mom, Amy Manzelli, near her high school's tennis courts, Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Pembroke, N.H. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

FILE - Parker Tirrell, a transgender athlete who plays on her high school's girls soccer team, heads the ball, Friday, March 7, 2025, in Plymouth, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)