Despite thousands of empty seats on Centre Court greeting womens' champion Aryna Sabalenka's return to Wimbledon, David Beckham refused to leave the Royal Box at SW1913:32, 30 Jun 2026Updated 13:33, 30 Jun 2026David Beckham didn't take the chance to duck out like thousands of other tennis fans in between the mens' matches on Centre Court.‌People desperate for a taste of the iconic venue were left annoyed over footage of womens' champion Aryna Sabalenka kicking off her title defence in front of a half-empty arena. Many tickets holders and special guests took the opportunity to dash out after world number one Jannik Sinner had survived an almighty scare as he began his Wimbledon quest with a nervy win over Miomir Kecmanovic.‌With seven-time winner Novak Djokovic due to face China's Wu Yibing in Monday's evening slot, many decided to stretch their legs as Sabalenka faced Teodora Kostovic in front of thousands of emty seats - but the former England captain remained in his.‌He shunned the free bar and endless food put on by tennis bosses and remained firmly in his Royal Box seat, even if most of the other sitting alongside him for Sinner's game decided it was the idea time for a break from the opening day action.Winner Aryna, 28, turned to David while addressing the crowds after and said: "Sir David, thank you for being here!" Fans praised him too, with one sharing a photo and saying on X: "While most of the crowd vanish when the men aren't playing, David stays put."‌David's son Romeo, 23, and his girlfriend Kim Turnbull, 25, didn't get the VIP treatment as they weren't invited to sit in the Royal Box, but the former Manchester United star's mum Sandra did.Perhaps David wanted to avoid crossing paths with Katherine Jenkins on Monday.Nine years after his furious remarks about the Welsh singer came to light, Becks was a few rows in front of her in Royal Box at SW19.‌After Katherine received an OBE in the New Year Honours in 2014 for her services to music and charity work, while Beckham was passed over for a knighthood, the ex-Three Lions skipper hit out at the decision in an email to his advisor, which was later leaked in 2017."Katherine Jenkins OBE for what?" the email read. "Singing at the rugby and going to see the troops plus taking coke. F***ing joke."‌She subsequently admitted to being hurt by the comments, disclosing that the footballer had not contacted her to apologise."You're just minding your own business and you get caught up in this massive storm," she told The Sun in 2018. "You just think, 'Aw, I wasn't doing anything'. To get caught up in that wasn't pleasant."I don't know why, again, that was aimed at me. I also don't feel the need to defend this, by the way. I know what I've done and when I got the OBE it was given to me for music and for charity.‌"It's obviously disappointing. I've never heard anything from them about it. It doesn't matter. Priorities are my kids, my family, my singing, my charities and that's just white noise in the background."His remark about 'coke' came after the singer had previously confessed to taking illegal substances - including cocaine, ecstasy and MDMA - until the age of 23."I felt like I had to be honest, that was the thing," she said. "I look back and I think it was the right thing to do and I definitely don't regret talking about it. I think it was something that needed to be addressed."Article continues belowLike this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.