Andy Murray, Marin Cilic and Lleyton Hewitt swapped Aorangi Park for the lawns of the National Tennis Centre on Wednesday when they competed in a charity doubles tournament.
The men, joined by six other tennis luminaries including Pat Rafter, Goran Ivanisevic and the Bryan brothers, each partnered an amateur tennis enthusiast as part of the event to raise money for the Tim Henman Foundation and homeless charity Centrepoint.
Former British player and now broadcaster Andrew Castle was in high spirits as he introduced the players to their respective partners and joked that Murray - fresh from his fourth Queen’s Club triumph in London - had questionable form.
The competitors were split into two groups; Murray Mound comprising Murray, Hewitt, Mike Bryan, Ivanisevic, Jonas Bjorkman and their respective club-standard partners and Henman Hill made up of doubles teams including Cilic, James Ward, Bob Bryan, Rafter and Henman.
Played out beneath a brilliant blue sky, Murray was in a particularly jovial mood as the tournament began and even jested about a prize for the ultimate champion.
The Wimbledon semi-finals were a stroll in the park compared to this
Meanwhile, Mike Bryan and Ivanisevic made a considerable din in the opening group matches much to the amusement of their partners.
The pairs played four 20-minute matches and the winning partnership from each group contested the final, in which Murray and his partner Mark Laurence were crowned overall champions following their victory over Henman and Laura Schwab.
Speaking about the event, Rafter, who lost his first match, told Wimbledon.com: "Tim asked me to take part. It’s an opportunity to give back, Tim’s a good mate of mine, I was over here and it’s worked perfectly."
Former world No.4 Henman first established the Foundation in 2000, which initially supported terminally ill children and cancer charities.
The initiative is now concentrated on improving the education, health and welfare of young people disadvantaged by poverty, disability or ill health.
"I went to Reed’s School in Cobham, Surrey when I was part of the David Lloyd Academy and that was set up by Andrew Reed 200 years ago as an orphanage," Henman told Wimbledon.com.
“He really valued the power of education and the opportunity [it brings]. I had a good education because I was good at tennis. I was very fortunate. I want to give kids an opportunity and really build a legacy so that we can see their journey.”
A celebratory champagne dinner is also being held at the prestigious Dorchester Hotel in London together with a charity auction featuring rackets donated by Roger Federer and Andy Murray, a box for 10 people at the ATP World Tour Finals and Wimbledon men's final tickets.
Henman, who also played in the tournament, has spent the past three months organising the event together with his former Reed’s tutor Richard Garrett.
However, he confessed the arrangements had kept him awake at night.
"The Wimbledon semi-finals were a stroll in the park compared to this," he laughed.
