05 July 2023 , 15:31
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Princess of Wales had to tell tennis legend Roger Federer to "sit down" at Wimbledon today.
The eight-time Wimbledon champion received a rapturous reception at the prestigious venue today, during which drawn-out standing ovation from fans including Kate Middleton.
Kate, 41, was sat next to him in the Royal Box at SW19.
Former British No 1 John Lloyd said, during BBC coverage, the Swiss ace looked "a billion dollars".
"In the end, the ovation kept going on for so long that the Princess of Wales had to give him a little nudge and tell him to sit down," Lloyd said.
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Kate Middleton put on a friendly display as she welcomed close pal Roger Federer to Wimbledon (Phil Harris / Daily Mirror)"It could have been another hour before we even started the match. It was great. Absolutely fantastic."
Federer was honoured with a special ceremony on Centre Court yesterday.
His presence at this year's tournament was hotly anticipated by fans, who hoped to get a glimpse of the 20-time Grand Slam champion before the action got underway .
Eventually, defending champion Elena Rybakina's beat American Shelby Rogers, with the 24-year-old coming through in three sets.
Princess of Wales and Federer watched Andy Murray in his first round match on Centre Court (Phil Harris / Daily Mirror)Fans were also treated to a clinic by Andy Murray, who stormed through to the second round at the All England Club courtesy of a dominant three-set win over plucky underdog Ryan Peniston.
Murray, who won Wimbledon twice, said: "It was amazing to have some royalty here and some tennis royalty as well.
"It's amazing to have Roger here supporting the event.
"The last time I was on this court and he was watching it, it was the [2012] Olympics and he was sat in Stan Wawrinka's box supporting against me. [Roger,] I hope you are doing well."
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (centre) was also in the Royal Box alongside Kate Middleton yesterday (Dave Shopland/REX/Shutterstock)Kate is friends with Federer, 41, and was pictured last week playing tennis with the star at Wimbledon's sister venue in the Raynes Park area of the capital.
The pair were filmed joining a training session for youngsters on an indoor court for a video since released on YouTube.
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Federer, who also won the Australian Open six times and the US Open on five occasions, announced his retirement from professional tennis last year.
Elena Rybakina, pictured, beat Shelby Rogers on day two of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships (PA)Persistent injury issues meant that the man's last competitive outing at SW19 came in 2021, when he was beaten by Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals.
Wimbledon hosted Federer's first-ever Grand Slam win in 2003, and he went on to clinch victory on seven further occasions at the All England Club, giving him the most men's titles in the tournament's history.