Aryna Sabalenka came to the rescue of a heat-stricken fan during her Wimbledon semi-final against Amanda Anisimova.
The No 1 seed stopped the match to pass her water bottle to a supporter who was struggling with the 29C heat in the Centre Court cauldron.
Centre Court erupted into applause for the Belarusian star, who also carried over ice to help the dehydrated fan.
It is not the first time this has happened at Wimbledon, with Carlos Alcaraz also providing for a spectator in his first-round clash with Fabio Fognini.
Sabalenka certainly didn’t have to – she was 3-2 down in the first set at the time and could have taken the selfish route of focusing on herself.
But the selfless spirit prevailed in the three-time Grand Slam winner and she received her due plaudits on social media.
One said: ‘Class’.
One commented: ‘Kind gesture appreciated here.’
Another wrote: ‘So many fans at Wimbledon are sat in the stands with no shade and many are not even wearing any sun hats/caps.
‘The humidity inside Centre Court is so much more too. Remember to stay hydrated and take protection from the sun. Nice touch from Sabalenka.’
The heat wave which has afflicted England has not relented on fans tucking into their strawberries and cream in SW19.
The opening day of the tournament saw temperatures soar to a record 32C, with thousands of fans having queued up for hours before entering, and then being made to sit throughout the day with no shade.
Wimbledon has done its best to tackle the risk of sunstroke and exhaustion, setting up dedicated shade areas and more water refill stations than ever.
The tournament also set up a pharmacy for people to purchase sun cream on the opening day and had a London ambulance service on site.
But, like lots of England, it is not necessarily set up to cope with excessive heat.
There is no air conditioning on Centre Court, not even for the royal box.
The fifth set of Alcaraz’s opening match was delayed by 16 minutes as medical personnel attended to the boiling spectator.
More to follow.
