Home

Tennis

3 Decades After His First Tennis Stint, Roger Federer Turns Back the Clock With Kate Middleton as They Let Wimbledon Sparkle With Their Timeless Elegance

Published 06/25/2023, 2:02 AM EDT

Follow Us

via Getty

Only a few love stories are better than that of Roger Federer and the courts of SW19. Despite playing his final tour-level tournament at Wimbledon in 2021, he showed up on his favorite court in the following two years. Federer and most former Wimbledon champions were invited for the centenary celebration of its most prestigious court, the Centre Court, last year. However, this year Federer was spotted in playing attire rather than wearing a suit. On top of that, he was up against a rather unfamiliar opponent in Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales.

Roger Federer shares the court with Kate Middleton

The Princess of Wales appeared alongside the 8-time Wimbledon champion in a short film posted by The Times. They started off with some ball striking on court 3. Federer and Middleton each had a different partner while they engaged in a short doubles game.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

However, after a short hitting practice, the focus shifted to the main purpose of shooting the film.

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest Tennis stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

The ball boys and ball girls were supposedly the main focus. The Swiss Maestro and Dutchess of Cambridge came together to record a piece about the ball kids. For the better part of the film, they were doing their best ball kid impression and learning how things work for them.

While acting as a ball kid in the film, Federer was certainly reminded of his past. Before he won 20 majors and became one of the greatest ever, he was still on the court but not quite with a tennis racket.

Roger Federer turns back the clock to his teenage days in Basel

Before mesmerizing the audience with his racket on the court, the Swiss Maestro was a ball kid. He featured in his local tournament the Swiss Indoor Open in Basel as a ball kid in 1993. When the video resurfaced in 2018, Federer famously said to TennisTV, “At heat, I am always going to be a ball boy“.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Federer has always had immense respect for the ball kids for this particular reason. He hosted a pizza party for the ball kids in Basel after winning his first title at home in 2006. The Swiss Maestro continued this tradition after winning the title nine more times.

READ MORE: “I Used To Chase The Players For Autographs”- Roger Federer

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Are you looking forward to watching Federer and the Princess of Wales doing ball kids duties? Do let us know in the comments.

Watch This Story: Upon Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s $1 Billion success in 2017, Billionaire tennis legend Roger Federer clapped in his own intense way

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Raghav Tikmany

356Articles

One take at a time

Raghav Tikmany is a tennis writer at EssentiallySports. After completing his under-graduation in Commerce, his passion for sports encouraged him to take up content writing in the field of sports journalism. He has prior experience in text commentary.
Show More>

Edited by:

Tony Thomas