The Royal Box is reserved for members of the Royal Family and guests of the All England Club, and on Day 7 of this dramatic Championships it was fitting to see Chairman Ian Hewitt’s invitees included some master storytellers. 

Middle Sunday marks a watershed in tournament progress, dividing the early rounds from the sharp end, and ushering in a shift up through the emotional gears. 

For full appreciation of this, the Royal Box hosted experts in the field such as pop singer Ellie Goulding, who is noted for her emotive delivery.

Players take to Centre Court with a strategy for a successful outcome, and that spirit was encapsulated in screenwriter, producer and film director Richard Curtis, whose oeuvre is a byword for uplifting happy endings.

Even the title of one of his best-loved films sounds like a throwaway score line - Love, Actually; another, About Time, could be an utterance from a chair umpire when faced with a marathon pre-serve bounce offender.

Sitting close by was the TV presenter Richard Osman who is better known these days for crime novels such as The Bullet That Missed.

On that score, and as an aficionado of tennis, he would know to look out when Hubert Hurkacz was serving towards the VIP seats. The Pole is 11th on the list of all-time fastest serves in the men’s game with a 151mph delivery.

By calling, actors are nothing if not versatile. When it comes to range on the big stage, guests Roger Allam and Daniel Kaluuya are the thespian equivalent of Novak Djokovic, who remains on track to achieve a Grand Slam (winning all four majors in a calendar year) after narrowly missing out in 2021.

Allam has starred in everything from Les Miserables to Game of Thrones while Kaluuya’s CV includes a horror film and the Marvel Comics superhero epic Black Panther.

But when it comes to understanding the quintessence of Englishness, they are both veterans in what makes an audience titter (as is the Centre Court crowd's wont): Allam starred in the political satire The Thick of It and Kaluuya in the Rowan Atkinson spy-action comedy, Johnny English Reborn.

But there is more to life than fun and games, and the Chairman’s Royal Box invitations also reflect the Club’s desire to recognise people who work towards making global society better for all.

These included John McCarthy, the journalist and broadcaster who was held hostage from 1986 to 1991 during the Lebanon hostage crisis, and who was an inspirational guest speaker at the Club last year.

He was accompanied by Jill Morrell, who spearheaded the ‘Friends of John McCarthy’ campaign for his release.

Among others escorted to their seat by a Royal Box steward was Mike Adamson, CEO, British Red Cross, the emergency response charity partner of the Wimbledon Foundation; Celia Dawson of the Mitcham Charity Trust, awarded the OBE this year for outstanding lifetime services to children and young people with special educational needs; and Dame June Raine, Chief Executive, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, who was recognised for services to the Covid-19 response.

The guestlist in this 75th anniversary year of the NHS featured Professor Sir Stephen Powis, National Medical Director, NHS; Amanda Pritchard, CEO NHS England; and Jane Clegg, Chief Nurse for London, NHS England.

Notable clinical experts also included Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Director, University College London Institute of Health Equity and Professor of Epidemiology; and geneticist Sir Paul Nurse, CEO and Director of the Francis Crick Institute, who last year was named a Companion of Honour for services to science and medicine in the UK and abroad.

Receiving a collective salute to the Armed Forces were Air Marshal Harvey Smyth, Deputy Commander (Operations) of the Royal Air Force; Lieutenant General Sharon Nesmith, Deputy Chief of the General Staff; General Sir Gordon Messenger, Rear Admiral of the United Kingdom; and Vice Admiral Martin Connell, Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff.

So that was land, sea and air covered, and the stratosphere too, as physicist Professor Brian Cox mingled with the top brass and tennis dignitaries and stars, including Ann Jones, Britain’s ladies’ singles champion in 1969.

New this year:

See the draw like never before, with interactive Path to the Final view of the draw by clicking a player’s name on the draws page

See the projected Path to the Final of every player in the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ singles draws with IBM Likely to Play

View how favourable or difficult a player's draw is, with IBM AI Draw