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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Rebecca Speare-Cole

Family day at Wimbledon final as Djokovic and Cambridges’ children among crowd

PA Wire

The men’s singles final became a family affair as Prince George watched his first ever Wimbledon match and Novak Djokovic’s daughter waved at her dad as he celebrated winning the championship.

The Serbian player won his seventh Wimbledon title after beating Australian Nick Kyrgios in a dramatic final on Sunday afternoon.

Djokovic shared some sweet moment’s with his wife and daughter after the match when he was interviewed on Centre Court by BBC presenter Sue Barker.

Jelena Dokovic and Tara Dokovic react following Novak Djokovic’s victory (PA) (PA Wire)

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who watched from the royal box, also had a family day as they brought eight-year-old George.

After Kate presented both players with their trophies, Djokovic waved up to his family and his team as he thanked them for their support during an interview with Barker.

Djokovic said: “My family, my parents are here, oh my daughter’s here as well. Oh wow, OK.”

His four-year-old daughter Tara could be seen sitting on his wife Yelena’s knee and waving at her dad.

The Duke of Cambridge with Prince George react in the Royal Box (PA) (PA Wire)

The Serbian player told Barker: “She’s not five years old yet so she wasn’t allowed to watch a match live, but next year hopefully if she’s interested, which she wasn’t so much in tennis, she can watch daddy play live.”

Wimbledon’s rules mean that children under five are not allowed on the courts to watch the match live in case they cause disruption.

“My son is the only one missing because I think he is playing a set against Bob Bryan’s son at the moment because that’s what they’ve been doing in the last few days.”

Novak Djokovic celebrates with the trophy following his victory over Nick Kyrgios (PA) (PA Wire)

Djokovic’s son Stefan, seven, has been seen practising with his father during the tournament, with the Serbian player telling reporters that he is “in love with tennis”.

Barker reminded Djokovic that it was his wedding anniversary, to which he said: “My gosh I’m going to buy you flowers after this, you keep on reminding me of things that I would get in big trouble if I forget.

“So darling, happy anniversary,” he said, before pointing to the trophy and joking: “This is my present.”

After leaving Centre Court, the Wimbledon champion stopped to chat with Prince George and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Djokovic was brought into a VIP area at the All England Club where he handed over the men’s trophy for eight-year-old George to hold.

Kate kept on touching the lid to keep it in place as George turned the trophy upwards so he could get a closer look at it.

William also said to him: “Don’t drop it.”

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, with Prince George, speak to ball boys and ball girls (PA) (PA Wire)

Djokovic chatted to the royals for several minutes, speaking about how their sons are similar ages, before they shook hands.

Before the final, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge greeted ball boys and girls as well as military personnel with Prince George in the Millennium building.

Kate, who is patron of the All England Club, explained to George what the military personnel do, saying: “They look after everybody to make sure the crowds are safe and happy, doing the right thing, in the right seats, making sure the grounds are safe.”

When asked about George coming to Wimbledon, she said to him: “Is this your first time? It is, isn’t it?” to which he replied: “Yes”.

When asked why Charlotte was not there, she said: “It’s George’s treat today.”

George was also asked who he was going to support and appeared too shy to answer so William looked at him and whispered “Djokovic” before adding: “We’ll see how long it lasts. He’ll support the winner.”

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