Roger Federer received a rapturous reception at Wimbledon on Tuesday as Centre Court spectators applauded for more than 100 seconds during a special ceremony in his honour.
The tennis great is the most decorated men’s singles champion in the tournament’s illustrious history and he was invited to SW19 by the All England Club for a special celebratory moment before the start of play as organisers wanted to “honour the man holding the most gentlemen’s singles titles here at Wimbledon”.
Federer played an astonishing 119 matches at the tournament, winning 105, while he won a record eight trophies on the hallowed grass with five of those coming during his unbeaten run from 2003 to 2007.
The 20-time Grand Slam winner was honoured ahead of defending women’s champion Elena Rybakina’s clash against Shelby Rodgers and a montage of his most memorable moments were played on the big screen.
He received a guard of honour once he entered the showpiece court and made his way to the Royal Box where he was greeted by his wife Mirk and the Princess of Wales.
A legend returns.
The Centre Court crowd rises for eight-time #Wimbledon champion @RogerFederer
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 4, 2023
Once the applause died down, there was no speech from the Swiss Maestro as he and the rest of the dignitaries in the Royal Box took their seats.
Roger Federer’s Wimbledon record
One year after turning professional, Federer made his Wimbledon in 1999 and he lost in the first round against Jiri Novak. The following year he also failed to win his opener, but he finally hit the headlines in 2001 as he claimed the biggest win of his career when he stunned four-time defending champion and top seed Pete Sampras in the fourth round before losing in the quarter-final.
Another first-round exit followed the next year before he finally hit the jackpot in 2003 when he won his maiden Grand Slam title by defeating Mark Philippoussis 7–6 (7–5), 6–2, 7–6 (7–3) in the final.
One Wimbledon trophy became five as he became the first man after Bjorn Borg to win five consecutive titles. His run was finally ended in 2008 when he lost 6–4, 6–4, 6–7 (5–7), 6–7 (8–10), 9–7 in a classic final against Rafael Nadal.
He returned to title-winning ways in 2009 with victory over Andy Roddick in the final before two consecutive quarter-final exits. His penultimate title came in 2012 when he beat Andy Murray in four sets before he won his eighth and final trophy at Wimbledon in 2017 when he beat Marin Cilic.
After a quarter-final exit the following year, Federer lost another classic in 2019 as he was beaten in five sets by Novak Djokovic. His final Wimbledon appearance came in 2021 when, struggling with a knee injury, he lost in the last eight against Hubart Hurkacz.
