Retired Swiss great Roger Federer made a surprise appearance on his favourite stage to the delight of a packed Centre Court at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

Federer, whose 20 Grand Slam singles titles include a record eight at Wimbledon and who many regard as the greatest player of all time, retired last year at the age of 41.

With his long-time rival Rafa Nadal also absent this year as he tries to regain his fitness and Serena Williams also retired, Wimbledon is missing some of its favourite players.

But even without his racket, Federer had the Centre Court crowd drooling during a short video presentation played on the scoreboards before defending women's favourite Elena Rybakina took to the court for her opening match.

The film captured Federer's glittering Wimbledon career, from his first title in 2003 to his last in 2017.

Federer, wearing a cream blazer, took his seat in the Royal Box alongside his wife Mirka, his parents and the Princess of Wales as the 15,000 capacity crowd gave him a standing ovation that lasted several minutes.

After watching Rybakina battle back from a set down to beat American Shelby Rogers, Federer then saw old sparring partner Andy Murray outclass fellow Britain Ryan Peniston.

"Amazing to have some royalty here but also some tennis royalty," Murray told the fans after his victory as Federer smiled. "It was amazing to have Roger supporting the event."

Murray also managed to get in a jibe at the 20-time Grand Slam champion who he lost to in the 2012 Wimbledon final, memorably shedding tears afterwards before bouncing back to beat the Swiss a few weeks later to win Olympic gold.

"The last time I was here and Roger was watching it was the (2012) Olympics and he was in (fellow Swiss) Stan Wawrinka's box so it was nice to see some claps for some good shots (today)," said Murray, who beat Wawrinka in the Olympics first round.