A FORMER WIMBLEDON champion has starred in the Royal Box spotlight – exactly 20 years after her stunning victory.
At just 17, she emphatically put herself on the global sporting map by winning the women’s singles tournament in 2004, shocking Serena Williams in the final.
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It also earned him the star – worth £150 million – the invaluable and prestigious honor of life membership of the All England Club in south-west London.
And today Maria Sharapova returned to SW19, this time as a guest at the Royal Box – just as she did last week on the third day of the 2024 Championship.
The Russian, who hung up her tennis racket upon retiring in 2020, was joined by her fiancé Alexander Gilkes in the elegant seats to watch the women’s singles final between Jasmine Paolini and Barbora Krejcikova on Center Court.
The superstar couple is enjoying huge success in the business world with their growing empire.
They have been together since 2018, got engaged in December 2020 and welcomed their son 18 months later.
Sharapova shined in a stylish white Wimbledon number and was joined in the Wimbledon Royal Box to watch the women’s singles final by a host of other big names – from the worlds of sport and entertainment.
Wimbledon icon Sue Barker took her place among former women’s champions Marion Bartoli, Ann Jones, Billie Jean King, Conchita Martinez and nine-time winner Martina Navratilova.
Back from her Euro 2024 analyst duties in Germany, former English footballer Jill Scott headed to the exclusive area – a week after Sporting, on Saturday, at Wimbledon.
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Then Scott’s former Lionesses teammate Leah Williamson sat alongside Roy Hodgson and Pep Guardiola, who was offered a new coaching role by Alexander Zverev.
Legendary actor Hugh Jackman, director Sam Mendes, singer Ellie Goulding and former Strictly judge Darcey Bussell were also in Paolini’s royal box against Krejcikova.
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Zendaya, Maya Jama, Anya Taylor-Joy, Tom Cruise and Pierce Brosnan also received an invite – but they were in the hospitality seats and not the royal box.
The £2.7 million showdown was followed in the order of play by Britain’s Henry Patten in the men’s doubles final with Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara against Australian pair Max Purcell and Jordan Thomspon and then the women’s doubles final.
However, Princess Kate did not join them today.
The Princess of Wales – who is undergoing cancer treatment – is the patron of the All England Club and presented the trophies last year.
However, she will not be present at the women’s final – instead handing over trophy ceremony duties to Debbie Jevans, president of the AELTC.
But Kensington Palace has confirmed that Kate will attend the men’s final tomorrow and present the trophy to either Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic, a year on from the Spaniard’s epic and thrilling five-set victory.
Kate was last seen in public at Trooping the Color on June 15 – with Prince William proudly by her side.
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The new careers of tennis stars
MANY tennis stars have remained involved in the sport since retiring.
But others followed very different careers. Here are some of the best…
- I reached the French Open and Wimbledon finals when I was a teenager, but dropped out to become a nun
- I won Wimbledon in mixed doubles with my sister, but I got tired of the English weather, so now I run a luxury guest house
- I was tipped for stardom at age 12, but was retrained to become a top-notch lawyer
- I made £9 million and won the French Open before opening a bistro with a Brazilian model girlfriend
- I’m the last Frenchman to win Roland Garros, now I’m a singer with six albums reaching number one in the charts
- I’m a former world number 1, but I quit at 29 – instead I took up playing poker and golf professionally
- I was destined for the top, but I traded lobs for labs as an award-winning Harvard physicist
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
