Kate Middleton is pictured showing off her tennis skills with her friend Roger Federer - as she features in a special YouTube film.
The Princess of Wales, who is Patron of The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, shines a spotlight on Wimbledon’s Ball Boys and Girls (BBGs) and the training that goes into becoming a BBG at The Championships in the video.
Each year, around 1,000 applicants, aged 13-15, from local schools take part in training sessions at the All England Club’s Community Tennis Centre near Raynes Park, south London.
And Her Royal Highness is today seen visiting the All England Club with eight-time Wimbledon champion to meet returning and prospective BBGs and hear about their experiences in training for the role.
Approximately 250 BBGs eventually take to the courts at Wimbledon following several months of regimented training sessions, learning a variety of skills from signalling to ball changes, rolling balls up to the net and the correct techniques to bounce the balls to players.
The final cohort of BBGs that are selected are comprised of approximately 170 new participants, with around 80 BBGs
returning from previous years.
Kate's film sees The Princess take part in a doubles rally with tennis legend Roger Federer on No.3 Court.
Her Royal Highness then joins the BBGs on court to participate in a training session.
Together, The Princess, Roger Federer and the BBGs discuss what it’s like to be a BBG, the experience of going through the training programme and the lasting impacts of the skills learnt.
Following the rally, The Princess and Roger Federer go to the All England Club’s Indoor Tennis Centre, where a training session for prospective BBGs is taking place. The Princess and Roger Federer meet Sarah Goldson, a BBG Manager, and observe the session to learn about the different skills that are being perfected and hear from prospective BBGs about their
experiences of the training.
The film ends with The Princess and Roger Federer taking part in the session by shadowing the BBGs before a final group photograph.
Wimbledon will look somewhat different to the viewers soon, because technology will be used instead of on-court line judges.
The ATP, which is the sport's governing body, said they will remove human line judges from all men’s events from the year 2025 in order to “optimise accuracy and consistency”.
Electronic Line Calling Live (ELC Live) was introduced to some tournaments in 2017 with the Australian Open and US Open making the switch in the years since.
