A man of Roger Federer’s status is never short on high-profile acquaintances but Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar is one man who considers the Swiss great a close friend.

The batting great was in the Royal Box to cheer on the seven-time Wimbledon champion on Friday where he chatted with Australia’s Eddie Jones, coach of the England rugby team. Federer invited Tendulkar to his IPTL match against Rafael Nadal in New Delhi in 2015 after the pair first met in 2011.

"I’ve always been a big fan of tennis, there’s nowhere better than Wimbledon. I’ve been watching Roger for the last 10 years so here I am again to support him," Tendulkar told the Wimbledon Channel.

"I think as a sportsman and tennis player he is someone the whole world admires but I know Roger as a person and I admire him more as a person. I think he’s such a down-to-earth humble man. After having achieved so much in life to be like that it’s always nice to be around him."

ROGER KNOCKS ROSBERG'S SOCKS OFF

Tendulkar was not the only high-profile athlete throwing their support behind Federer from the Royal Box on Friday, with last year’s Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg hoping to be somewhat of a mutual good-luck charm.

The 32-year-old German had earlier tweeted he was ticking Wimbledon off his bucket list but almost missed his day on Centre Court when told his bare feet and shoe combination did not meet the All England Club’s strict dress code. A quick trip to the shops to buy a pair of socks and it was problem solved.

Rosberg revealed to the Wimbledon Channel he had added reason to support Federer.

“Yeah, who knows? Maybe he brought me luck since he was there at my last race when I won the Championship so maybe today I can return the favour,” Rosberg said. “That is definitely the highlight to see him play this afternoon in the semi-final, it will be awesome.”

The retired F1 driver even admitted to being a little starstruck at meeting another tennis legend, Rod Laver, even if the Australian was not quite so familiar with him.

“For sure yes, big honour that is. And just meeting a lot of interesting people. I met Rod Laver two seconds ago. He’s a a massive tennis legend of course, so those are just moments which are great,” Rosberg said.

“He was in a bit of a rush and I don’t think he’s a Formula 1 fan,” he laughed. “But we had a short conversation.”

MAN IN SKIRT v CLIJSTERS

Determined to do her part to ensure Wimbledon’s strict all-white dress code is upheld, former world No.1 Kim Clijsters went above and beyond during her ladies’ invitation doubles match on Friday.

The Belgian teamed up with Rennae Stubbs to take on Conchita Martinez and Andrea Jaeger and when former singles champion Martinez called a fan down from the crowd to take her spot on court, Clijsters was quick to respond.

Racing to her bag, she delivered one of her white skirts to the man. It was a snug fit to say the least and left Clijsters in hysterics on the ground. A white tracksuit jumper completed the outfit and a thumbs up from Martinez. Her job was done. A worthy replacement had been found.

CILIC'S LONG WAIT IS OVER

Marin Cilic has long been a force with the green turf under foot but it has taken him a while to land that breakout result at Wimbledon.

With his four-set victory over giant-slaying Sam Querrey, the No.7 seed advanced to his maiden Wimbledon final on Saturday and what a wait it’s been. He got there on his 11th attempt – that’s three more than it took previous Open Era record holder Patrick Rafter to get there.

As the first Croat to reach the final since his former coach Goran Ivanisevic 16 years ago, Cilic will be hoping his countryman will be a good omen. It was Ivanisevic who denied Rafter in the Australian’s second Wimbledon decider. If Cilic is to get across the line for his second Grand Slam title he would hope it doesn’t take him the four final attempts it took Ivanisevic to get there.

“It's a famous question in Croatia. Everyone knows where they were when Goran played,” Cilic said of the 2001 final.

“I was in a tennis camp, tennis summer camp, close to my hometown. We watched, like a big group of children, we watched Goran. It was a big celebration. At that time I was still a kid, not even 13 years old.”