Wimbledon 2017: Jack Sock and Judy Murray condemn man who ripped towel out of young fan's hands

The young fan caught the towel first but then lost it in a struggle with an older spectactor

Mark Critchley
Wednesday 05 July 2017 10:58 BST
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Man steals towel Jack Sock threw into crowd from young fan

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Jack Sock has launched a campaign to find the young Wimbledon fan who had Sock’s souvenir towel ripped out of his hands by another spectator on Tuesday.

Sock threw his the towel into the crowd after rounding off his 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 first round victory over Chile’s Christian Garin on Court 8.

A young spectator in one of the first few rows caught the towel but then became involved in a tussle for it with an older man in a blue polo shirt sitting in front of him.

After a brief struggle and a tap on the arm from the older man, the youngster conceded defeat and let go of towel.

Sock, who did not appear to notice the tussle at the time, later saw video footage of the incident on Twitter and promised to compensate the young fan.

“If anyone knows the kid that unfortunately had the towel ripped out of his hands... tweet his name at me and I'll be sure to get him one,” he tweeted.

Judy Murray, mother of world number one Andy, also condemned the older man for snatching the towel, tweeting: “If ur the bloke in the blue polo shirt and hat, you should be ashamed”.

World number 17 Sock will face unseeded Austrian Sebastian Ofner in the second round on Thursday.

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