Duchess of Cambridge enjoys tennis during surprise visit to Wimbledon

The Duchess of Cambridge was served a couple of aces when she met Sir Andy Murray at Wimbledon and watched Roger Federer on centre court.

Kate chatted to Murray – a triple grand slam winner – behind the scenes at the famous tennis championships as he geared up to play in the doubles on Wednesday, another step in the Scot’s comeback from hip surgery.

Wearing a Suzannah dress, the duchess had made a surprise trip to SW19 and toured the famous grounds – watching the action on various courts.

Kate who is a passionate tennis fan, is patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) – the organisation which stages Wimbledon.

In the royal box, she sat down to watch Federer take on South African Lloyd Harris, a match the Swiss won in four sets.

Among the famous faces at Wimbledon were actor Will Poulter, former children’s presenter Baroness Floella Benjamin, ex-world heavyweight champion David Haye and television presenter Melanie Sykes.

Kate began her visit by watching British player Harriet Dart on court 14 and sat between the past and future faces of British women’s tennis.

On her right was Katie Boulter, who is not competing at Wimbledon because of an on-going back injury, and on her other side was former tennis player Anne Keothavong who retired from the sport some years ago.

After Dart lost the first set, the duchess left but the British player rallied and won the next two sets to see off her American opponent.

As she left court 14, Kate was asked if she had enjoyed the tennis and replied: “Very much so.”

Speaking later, Keothavong said about the duchess: “It’s brilliant to have the opportunity to sit there and chat to her and talk about Fed cup and British players and I guess just everything and anything about tennis.

“She was very interested to hear what my thoughts were and what Katie’s thoughts were on the game, she was clearly enjoying the tennis as well.”

Keothavong said she had also discussed the remarkable win of 15-year-old Cori Gauff, known as Coco, over Venus Williams on Monday.

“Yes we spoke about that and she was very impressed with Coco’s performance,” she said.

Dart later recorded a Twitter video message of thanks to the royal and her other supporters: “Hi everyone, thank you so much for the support in my first round match, I’m so excited to win and a special shout out to the Duchess of Cambridge who came to watch me play.”

Kate also met Britain’s top female player Johanna Konta before watching her play on number one court, a match she won.