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.
