Roger Federer fulfilled a curious promise to a small fan; he ended in tears

The tennis world continues to miss Roger Federer. The Swiss turns 41 this Monday, August 8, in the midst of the unknown about his return to the courts, which has taken much longer than expected.

Federer is now not part of the ATP ranking that saw him number 1 in the world for so many weeks, but he still remains in the memory of fans who describe him as the best of all time, even though he lived in the same era as Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who today have even more titles grand slam in his account.

Apart from his excellent technique to hit the ball, ‘Your Majesty’ has been characterized as an ace off the pitch, always dedicated to the fans and with a charisma worthy of the great idols of the sport. This time, as a commemoration of a new year of his life, the Barilla brand published a video in which Roger fulfills Izyan Ahmad’s dream, a young tennis prospect famous for the curious question he asked his hero five years ago.

“Could you keep playing for eight or nine years to play a match together when I’m professional?” little ‘Zizou’ told Federer at a US Open press conference. That day the tennis player made a promise that, five years later, he fulfilled in an emotional hidden camera video.

The joke begins when ‘Zizou’ arrives at a tennis club and is recognized by the local chef. He takes some selfies and in the distance he sees a group of children chanting his name, something that at that age is unknown to any athlete who dreams of being a professional. While this is happening, Federer is hidden inside a tent, who laughs and reacts to the gestures of his rival.

Minutes later, the young tennis player enters the court and meets the character he is going to face, nothing more and nothing less than one of the idols of white sports. “Hello, Mr. Federer,” says Izyan before shaking his hero’s hand and breaking down in tears of emotion.

“We have a promise, right? We are going to play”, recalls the Swiss after welcoming him to his country. “You play great, Zizou”, says Roger while the video shows some of the shots of the long-awaited match that came after five years, when one of its protagonists has not yet become a professional, although he is on his way to becoming one.

The video, which already has almost 10,000 views, ends with Roger and Zizou enjoying lunch amid smiles and tears for the fulfilled dream of a boy who from now on will have more motivation to achieve something than he did his idol for world tennis.

As a result of this publication and others that have flooded social networks, tennis fans have been able to commemorate Federer’s birthday, the living legend of Swiss sport, waiting to find out when he will return to the courts for one last demonstration of that quality. which made it big with Wimbledon being his favorite place on the planet.

“I myself am curious to see what will happen. But I am hopeful, I have already traveled a part of the way. I’m not far. The next three or four months will be decisive”, Federer said in June for the Tagesanzeiger, a newspaper in his country. ‘His Majesty of him’ is on his way to completing a year of the operation on the knee that has him out of the courts, doing gym work with his mind set on a comeback to retire in style.