Tennis legend Roger Federer and Princes of Wales Kate featured in a short film to celebrate the ballboys and girls at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. To the delight of fans, Kate got a shot past the 20-time Grand Slam winner Federer before picking up a few tricks of the game from Federer and the work of ballkids ahead of the Wimbledon championships, starting on July 3.
Federer - who was himself a ballboy in his hometown Basel - joined Kate to roll the ball like the ballkids do during the grand slam competition. Later, a ball girl was seen teaching Kate, a patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, how to throw and catch the balls.
Princess of Wales, Kate, and eight-time Wimbledon Champion Roger Federer join a ball boy and girl practice in the run-up to The Championships 2023. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Every year, around 250 children aged between 13 and 15 are selected to be ballboys and girls for the grand slam tournament. They are picked from a pool of 1000 applicants from local schools who participate in training sessions at the All England Club’s Community Tennis Centre.
The selected ballkids are divided between 170 new participants and 80 from the previous year. Federer was left impressed by the work that goes into preparing for the Wimbledon.
During the film, Federer, the eight-time Wimbledon champion, says, “This is proper practice, I am really impressed at how much effort and training goes into being a ballkid during The Championships.”
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