Roger Federer sits in Wimbledon’s Royal Box to watch rival Novak Djokovic win

LONDON (AP) — Roger Federer was back at Wimbledon, and back at Centre Court, on Monday — only this time, he was there to watch some tennis, not play it, at a place he won a men’s-record eight championships.

The now-retired Federer sat in the Royal Box for his former rival Novak Djokovic’s 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Alex de Minaur in the fourth round at the All England Club.

Djokovic already surpassed Federer’s total of 20 Grand Slam singles titles and has gotten to 24, the most by a man in tennis history. Now Djokovic is trying to equal Federer by winning an eighth trophy at the grass-court major tournament.

And, make no mistake, the 38-year-old Djokovic definitely noticed who was sitting in the front row Monday.

“Obviously, great to have Roger. A huge, huge champion and someone that I’ve admired and respected a lot,” Djokovic said. “We’ve shared the stage for so many years and it’s great to have him back in his most successful and his favorite tournament, no doubt.”

They played each other 50 times, with Djokovic leading the head-to-head by 27-23.

The two of them and Andy Murray recently gathered at the French Open and appeared at the ceremony honoring Rafael Nadal’s career there.

Wearing a dark tie and a blue suit — pinned to a lapel was one of the round purple badges that champions receive to note their status as club members — Federer was greeted by a loud round of applause as he entered the box with his wife, Mirka.

Federer, who turns 44 on Aug. 8, waved to the 15,000 or so other spectators.

His won his first Wimbledon title — which was also his first Grand Slam title —- in 2003. His last Wimbledon trophy came in 2017. Two years after that, Federer returned to the final at the All England Club and even held two championship points but lost to Djokovic in a fifth-set tiebreaker.

What turned out to be the last match of Federer’s professional career came at Wimbledon in 2021, when he lost in the quarterfinals to Hubert Hurkacz. It wasn’t until more than a year later that Federer announced he was done competing.

He shows up every so often at tournaments and sits in the stands, observing.

“It’s probably the first time he’s watched me and I won the match. The last couple I lost,” Djokovic said. “So, good to break the curse.”

___

Associated Press writer Mattias Karén contributed to this report.

___

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis