"I was unbelievably sad, it was difficult moment for the 3 of us" - When Roger Federer met with the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge after Wimbledon loss

Roger Federer spoke about meeting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after losing the 2014 Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic.

Federer entered the tournament seeded fourth and reached the final following wins over Paolo Lorenzi, Gilles Muller, Santiago Giraldo, Tommy Robredo, Stan Wawrinka, and Milos Raonic.

Here, the Swiss legend faced then-World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and the match turned out to be a thrilling encounter, which lasted three hours and 56 minutes. The Serb went on to win 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-4, which was his second title at Wimbledon.

The match was attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Federer was asked about the couple in his post-match press conference.

The Swiss was told by the reporter that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were supporting him. He responded by saying that he saw the couple afterwards and that the defeat was a "difficult moment" for him as well as them. The then-32-year-old spoke about how the pair comforted him after his defeat.

"Yeah, I did see them afterwards. I wasn't in a great state. I was unbelievably sad at that moment just when I left the court, so it was a difficult moment for I think the three of us. But they were very sweet to comfort me and wish me well, that they enjoyed the match and all these things," Roger Federer said.

"We met previously, so that helped I think. Clearly it makes me very happy to see them being supportive of my game and supportive of tennis. Overall, it's really nice seeing them there at a Wimbledon finals. Also at the quarters I think they were there as well. I think it's wonderful," he added.

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Roger Federer lost four Wimbledon finals throughout his career

The Swiss at the Laver Cup in 2023

Roger Federer is the most successful competitor in Wimbledon history, with eight titles to his name. However, he has also lost four finals at the grass-court Major,the first of which came in 2008.

The Swiss, who was the World No. 1 at the time, was vying for his his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title and was up against Rafael Nadal in the final for the third year on the trot. The Spaniard won the first two sets 6-4, 6-4 but Federer won the next two sets via tiebreaks, saving two championship points in the process, to force the match into a decider.

The final set was another tightly fought one and Nadal won it 9-7 to win his maiden Wimbledon crown.

The 2014 final was the second title clash at the grass-court Major that Federer lost. He faced Djokovic in the following year's final as well, and this time, the Serb won 7-6(1), 6-7(10), 6-4, 6-3 to win his third Wimbledon crown.

The two locked horns in the 2019 final as well, and this match turned out to be the longest title clash in the history of the grass-court Major. Djokovic edged out the Swiss 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-12(3).