Young tennis fan charms Federer with headband request

A budding British tennis player has described the moment Roger Federer gave her a headband as a "dream come true".

Mihika Joshi, 13, battled the crowds to make it to the autograph line after the 36-year-old's first round win on Monday.

And armed with a sign she made while queuing for Centre Court tickets, she made a request the tennis star could not ignore.

Written on bright yellow card in big bold black letters was the question: "Roger can I have your headband pleeease!!"

And sure enough, as the Swiss stopped in front of the teenager, he began scrambling in his bag for the accessory he had worn during his straight sets victory over Dusan Lajovic.

Mihika told the Press Association: "It was a dream come true. I was thrilled to receive the headband.

"I did not know if I would get it as it depended on if we got seats close enough to where Federer signs autographs."

The youngster explained that she already has Federer's autograph from when she was eight years old and saw him play at Wimbledon for the first time in 2013.

Mihika added: "I made the sign when we queued up in our tent. We joined the queue at 5am on Saturday morning."

The teenager, from Hampstead, north London, has been to around 10 Federer matches since 2013.

Her mother, Abhijeet Joshi, 43, said: "Mihika is a serious tennis player - she trains six days a week - and dreams of playing at Wimbledon herself one day."