Roger Federer Stays in Royal Box for Zverev-Lehecka Match at Wimbledon

Roger Federer remained the last man to sit in the Royal Box watching the Wimbledon action at Centre Court on Monday. Arthur Fery and Grigor Dimitrov's contest, which ended with Fery’s triumph, did not finish until after 8 pm, with Alexander Zverev yet to face Jiri Lehecka under the roof thereafter. Instead of leaving midway, as most celebrities did, Federer stayed behind out of respect for Zverev and Lehecka. Known for his grace on and off the court, the suited-up tennis legend was seen enjoying every ball as Zverev led 6-4, 7-5, 3-3 when play had to be stopped after reaching Wimbledon's 11 pm curfew.

Also present in the Royal Box on Tuesday were tennis legend Billie Jean King, Formula One driver Kimi Antonelli, and England women's football star Alessia Russo. Apart from the sporting stars, Comic Relief co-founder Lenny Henry, actor Ncuti Gatwa, and BBC Sport director Alex Kay-Jelski were also present. The eight-time Wimbledon champion was a favourite of the home crowd at SW19.

After beating Dimitrov, Fery expressed his surprise and said he had spotted Federer sitting in the front row of the Royal Box while he was playing. "'When I switched the TV on in the changing rooms for the first match (on Centre Court), the women's match, I saw Roger was in the Royal Box, I didn't know he was coming. I sent a message to my team saying, 'Roger's in the box, I'm pretty tight,'" Fery said, as quoted by the Daily Mail. 'It's incredible to be in that position where one of the greatest of all time is watching you, let alone watching me play a five-set match against Dimitrov on Centre Court, Wimbledon,' he added.

Fery's impressive run at Wimbledon will take him into the world's top 100 rankings. He will next face ninth seed and French Open finalist Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals. Zverev and Federer have played each other seven times before Federer retired. The 29-year-old German holds a 4-3 lead in their head-to-head record.