It was one of the longest, loudest standing ovations ever given for royalty on Centre Court … and the Princess of Wales also got a decent welcome, to be fair.
In fact, Kate led the rapturous acclaim for Roger Federer, returning to his spiritual home after retiring from tennis last year. It was clearly an emotional moment for the eight-times Wimbledon champion, whose parents Robbie and Lynette were in the Royal Box, along with his wife Mirka and long-standing coach Severin Luthi.
Federer won his first singles title on Centre Court TWENTY years ago and then triumphed in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2017. If Novak Djokovic defends his crown on Sunday week, he will match the number of Wimbledon titles achieved by his career-long rival and take his Grand Slam tally to 24 … four more than the Swiss legend collected.
But there is no doubt who holds the prime place in Centre Court’s affection.
Those lucky enough to have tickets filled the arena 15 minutes before the start of the women’s singles contest between Elena Rybakina and Shelby Rogers was scheduled to begin. Amongst the VIP guests in the Royal Box were former Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha.
And soon after the Princess of Wales had taken her seat, presenter Rishi Persad introduced a highlights package of Federer’s Wimbledon career, including tributes from fellow professionals. Federer was amongst former champions invited to a ceremony last year to mark 100 years of Centre Court.
But this moment was all about him and there was not a soul who did not rise to his or her feet when he emerged to acknowledge the adulation. Federer did not say anything but the greatest the Centre Court has seen did enough talking with his tennis over all those years.
Instead, he took his seat next to Kate on the front row - royalty side-by-side.
