Il Divo singer Sebastien Izambard steps up to challenge Tim Henman at the Albert Hall

 
Sebastian Izambad from Il Divo playing Tim Henman at the Royal Albert Hall tonight. Free To Use photos from PR company (No further details supplied). REF: Nigel Howard
Anna Dubis5 December 2013

As a singer with pop opera sensations Il Divo, Sebastien Izambard is used to raising a racket in front of thousands of fans.

But the world-renowned singer met his match last night when he stepped in at the last-minute to face tennis champion Tim Henman at the Albert Hall.

The former Wimbledown ace’s opponent suffered an injury 45 minutes into their exhibition match at the launch of the all-star Statoil Masters.

Rather than disappoint the crowd of 2,000, Henman appealed for a member of the audience to join him on court.

Izambard, a keen amateur, leapt at the opportunity stripping off his blazer as he raced on-stage to take up the challenge in aid of child health charity Best Beginnings.

He told the Standard: “Il Divo play to 80,000 people and I never get nervous on stage, but when I was playing tennis with Tim in front of thousands of people I was shaking like a little boy. I realised how difficult it is for them to play in front of crowds.

“I had one good hit, but the next one I put in the net. Tim was giving me tips but I couldn’t move my body.

He added: “I had to do it though, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’d like to invite Tim to come and share a stage with Il Divo.”

Henman, who was leading original opponent Mark Philippoussis 5-4 when the Australian suffered a shoulder injury, was typically gracious in victory.

And he told the Standard he would be backing Wimbledon winner Andy Murray for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year next week.

“I think he is going to win it, I think he should win it,” he said.

Murray’s mother Judy and brother Jamie were also present but the champion himself was away training in Miami.

Ms Murray said a lot of potential tennis stars were going undiscovered because the sport was still reserved for the rich elite.

“It’s very expensive to play tennis at a competitive level, you have to do a lot of travelling and not everyone can afford it. Often the kids that go into tennis come from privileged backgrounds.

“We live in quite a comfortable society compared to many other countries so trying to find those real fighters and real warriors is not so easy. We need to find the ones who can really fight and that’s why I think we need to spread the sport and widen the net.”

“The Lawn Tennis Association needs to make it more accessible to more people. They have to look at actually how the whole thing is packaged so more people can afford it,” she said.

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