Roger Federer Returns To Wimbledon And Plays With Princess Kate

Sunday, 25 June 2023 at 01:10

byEvita Mueller

Roger Federer was recently in Halle and he already managed to move to Wimbledon and play with the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton.

Roger Federer retired from tennis last year but remained quite busy after that. He had plenty of public engagements this year with the Met Gala, an appearance in Miami at the Formula One race, and a trip to Africa where he visited his mother's birth country of South Africa including its neighbor Lesotho.

Federer enjoys spending time in Africa as his foundation is very active there. It's one of the things he mentioned after his retirement - working with his foundation is something he wants to pursue more in the future.

There were some activities related to tennis as well as he was recently in H alle where he was honoured for all that he did for tennis. He'll be in China later this year for a similar reason and he'll also be in London though he won't be commentating.

There were rumblings about Federer joining as a commentator but that's on pause for now. He recently addressed it in an interview and also talked about not playing any exhibitions yet. It's been a goal for him when he retires; to remain active and play tennis from time to time but unfortunately, the body is not ready yet.

Or is it? The Swiss former player dropped a hint when he responded to an official post by The Prince and Princess of Wales on Twitter asking if anybody was interested in tennis. Federer answered that he's interested causing an uproar among his fans on social media.

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Soon after that, it was clear why the 20-time Grand Slam champion teased the fans, as he actually stepped onto the courts at Wimbledon, playing with the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton. The two have collaborated to film a short movie about the ball crew at the tournament.

Princess Kate also addressed the ball crew that she has a chance to meet every year as she usually appears at the tournament to present the trophy and greet the ball crew along the way.

"Wimbledon is renowned for its amazingly professional ball boys and ball girls, the amount of work it takes, it’s incredible to see it behind the scenes… With all the discipline and everything you’ve learnt, you’ll be able to take it into so many other parts of your life – things like confidence, and that feeling of pride with being on any of the courts is such a big moment."

Federer, who was a ball boy himself at the home tournament in Basel, also talked to the ball boys and ball girls at the All England Club, as the Swiss Maestro was impressed by their effort.

"This is proper practice. I’m really impressed at how much effort and training goes into being a ball kid during the championships. I used to be a ball kid in Basel when I was nine or 10 and, as I have always said, once a ball kid always a ball kid."