Wimbledon 2023: Roger Federer sits in the Royal Box alongside Princess of Wales

Roger Federer received a standing ovation of 1 1/2 minutes from spectators including Princess Kate as he entered Royal Box at Centre Court on Tuesday, when he was celebrated during a brief ceremony for his career and his men’s-record eight singles championships at Wimbledon.

Wearing a cream-colored suit with his purple All England Club member’s pin attached to a lapel, along with a striped shirt and polka-dot tie,  retired Federer walked to his seat and stood between his wife, Mirka, and Princess of Wales in special section above one of baselines in Grand Slam tournament’s main stadium.

Federer waved and tapped his chest, repeatedly saying, “Thank you,” as applause and roars cascaded under closed retractable roof on a rainy Day 2 at  grass-court event that he once dominated.

Before start of play at Centre Court, an anuncer explained that Federer was being hored for “his contributions to tennis — and, particularly, to se very special lawns.”

Federer, who turns 42 on Aug. 8, anunced his retirement at end of last year following a series of knee operations.

last match of his career was a quarterfinal loss to Hubert Hurkacz at All England Club in 2021.

ceremony Tuesday included a video highlight reel that showed clips of Federer playing, winning and speaking at Wimbledon, where he won first of his 20 career Grand Slam titles in 2003. That was start of a run of five in a row that stretched through 2007, followed by additional championships re in 2009, 2012 and 2017.

vak Djokovic, who won his first-round match on Monday, is trying to equal Federer this year by winning a fifth consecutive trophy and eighth overall at Wimbledon. Martina Navratilova, who won women’s singles title nine times, holds overall record at tournament.

“When I stop, tournament still lives on. tournament is bigger than any player who’s ever lived,” a younger Federer said in an interview shown during film Tuesday. “I really look forward to day where I retire and I can come back and just have tea time, you kw, on terrace.”

video was interspersed with shots of various players speaking glowingly of Federer.

“Roger is legend. He makes every shot look easy,” 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur said. Alex de Minaur spoke of Federer’s “masterful elegance on a tennis court.” Taylor Fritz called him an “inspiration,” Coco Gauff used word “icon,” and current women’s . 1 Iga Swiatek labeled Federer a “really special player.”