Prince George may only be five, but he’s already playing tennis with one of the greats.
Kate Middleton revealed earlier this week during an appearance at Wimbledon that Roger Federer is her eldest son’s favorite tennis player. The information got back to a delighted Federer on Thursday after his match against Jay Clarke.
“That’s very big,” the tennis player said, smiling and adding that the little royal’s tennis technique was “already good.” The two have played together at Kate’s family’s home in Bucklebury, Berkshire. Federer is a friend of the family and even attended Pippa Middleton’s wedding in 2017.
“I think I have a little advantage that I actually spent some time, you know, with him,” Federer said. “So maybe I’m the only player he’s ever met, then you have a little head start in who is your favorite player.”
The tennis player said that George is a “cute boy” and that he loved “to see that they’re into tennis or into sports. Definitely.”
“You know, his mum has always enjoyed tennis,” Federer added. “That’s it.”
“I hope that he’ll still say the same [thing about being his favorite tennis player] in a few years’ time. This is not just an in-the-moment situation that he said, ‘Oh, he’s a good guy. I’ve just seen him recently.’”
Federer might have some competition, as George’s aunt, Meghan Markle is good friends with fellow tennis great Serena Williams (who is a global adviser to Verizon Media, HuffPost’s parent company).
Williams attended Meghan’s wedding to Prince Harry last year and also helped plan her star-studded baby shower in New York City.
Meghan, who is on maternity leave, stepped out on Thursday to watch Williams play Kaja Juvan of Slovenia.
Last year, the Duchess of Sussex and Duchess of Cambridge stepped out together at Wimbledon as their first solo outing as sisters-in-law to watch Williams play Angelique Kerber.
REAL LIFE. REAL NEWS. REAL VOICES.
Help us tell more of the stories that matter from voices that too often remain unheard.