When Beckham met Tendulkar (©GettyImages). The biggest names from the sporting world joined Armed Forces for a day at tennis' most prestigious Grand Slam, as rain caused havoc on the middle Saturday of Wimbledon.
Retired footballing legend David Beckham and the Indian cricket equivalent, Sachin Tendulkar, headlined the list of stars who took their place in the Royal Box before Rafael Nadal sailed into the fourth round with a four set victory.
Weather chaos
Thunder and lightening has sparked fears of a second week backlog at the All England Club, but Beckham and co sat pretty with the relatively new Wimbledon roof protecting them from the elements.
Also in attendance were Olympic heroes including Bradley Wiggins, Victoria Pendleton, Tom Daley, Nicola Adams, Anthony Joshua and Sir Matthew Pinsent. Tendulkar, Test cricket's all-time leading run scorer, was joined by fellow cricketers Phil Tufnell, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn and former England Test captain Andrew Strauss.
None of England's failed World Cup squad were there, but 'Golden Balls' was not alone - he had another Manchester United legend, Sir Bobby Charlton, alongside him. Becks' wife Victoria, the former Spice Girl, wasn't there to enjoy the action but mum Sandra was bought along instead.
Armed Forces
The hullabaloo of sports' elite members on Wimbledon's middle Saturday has become traditional in recent years. All of the stars were given a welcome by BBC presenter Sue Barker in front of an appreciative sell-out crowd. However, rightly so, the biggest applause and standing ovation went to members of the Armed Forces past and present.
They all saw Nadal triumph against Kazakhstan underdog Mikhail Kukushkin, despite losing the first set, and later on Centre Court - former champions Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer also avoided banana-skins.
As the rain cleared later in the day, the biggest story to unfold was the exit of world no.1 and 17-time major champion Serena Williams. Her sister, Venus, has already been knocked out and this year marks the rare occasion that neither sister, with five SW19 singles titles each, will partake in the second week.
Star attractions
It highlights the attraction of players like the Williams sisters, Federer, Nadal and Sharapova that so many star names love to come and watch the action on the London grass.
Already this week we have seen the Royal Box full of high-profile public figures. Everyone from the Duchess of Cornwall to Ricky Gervais have graced the premium seats thus far.
At last year's final, in which Andy Murray became the first British man in over 70 years to win, Hollywood stars such as Gerard Butler and Bradley Cooper lent their support. Even the Queen is partial to a spot of tennis, though she hasn't popped along yet this time around.
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