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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Lizzie Edmonds

Princess of Wales at Wimbledon to support as record nine Brits in play

The Princess of Wales has arrived at Wimbledon for the second day of the tournament.

She walked down the steps of the Media Centre wearing a green blazer. Kate smiled and greeted two young children.

She made her way to Wimbledon's Court 18 to watch Briton Katie Boulter play Australian Daria Saville before the match was interrupted by rain.

She was then expected to move to Centre Court to see two-time Wimbledon champion Sir Andy, 36, play Briton and world number 268 Ryan Peniston, 27.

Kate will also watch a special presentation to Roger Federer while on Centre Court to honour the sportsman’s illustrious tennis career.

Kate is the patron of the Lawn Tennis Association and regularly attends Wimbledon.

Federer will be joined by his wife - Mirka - and treated to a video montage of his best moments through the years. He will then watch all of today’s action from the Royal Box with the Princess.

Cameron Norrie, 27, is facing face Tomas Machac, 22, from the Czech Republic on Court One.

Kate kept dry under a Wimbledon umbrella. (Jeremy Selwyn)

Meanwhile, Heather Watson, Arthur Fery, George Loffhagen and Sonay Kartal were also taking to the courts today. British number two Dan Evans was set to finish his match against Frenchman Quentin Halys — which was called off on Monday night as light was fading with the Brit two sets down.

Fans of Sir Andy arrived to join the queue for Centre Court tickets as early as Saturday morning.

Catherine Kay, 32, came over from Belgium to ensure she was the first in line for day two. The PR executive said: “I wanted to see Andy, that’s why I came down so early. It’s a huge day for British sport.”

Lianne Terry, who was celebrating her 40th birthday, was about 700th in the queue having arrived last night. She was hoping to watch Sir Andy on a screen at Murray Mound, after getting a ground pass.

“I cannot wait to watch the Brits playing,” she said.

There was some criticism on Monday about the waiting times in the queue — with some fans who had visited Wimbledon in previous years claiming these were the “worst” they had seen.

Organisers said extra checks, put in place over concerns about protests from Just Stop Oil, were to blame for the delays as were high numbers of people wanting to attend the championships on day one of the competition.

Some 11,500 people got into the All England Club on Monday via the queue. Attendance on Monday was the highest it has been on the first day since 2015.

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