OUR BELOVED G.O.A.T. ROGER FEDERER GRACES SEATTLE

Written by: Staff on 30th April 2017

OUR BELOVED G.O.A.T. ROGER FEDERER GRACES SEATTLE |

Photo by Joe Hunt

By Joseph Hunt

This simply doesn’t happen in Seattle… EVER. It has been over 5 years since a tennis player with any resume has hit a ball in the Emerald City. That was 2011, when Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Michael Chang and John McEnroe swung by on their PowerShares tour – legends, yes, but aging and past their primes. But this – this is unheard of for us in the remote corner of the country, the hometown of former champions, Jonathan Stark, Pat Galbraith, and the great Tom Gorman. While we have a rich tennis history, the game is mostly ignored by local media, which routinely buries grand slam final stories on back page, postage stamp sized articles.

Photo by Joe Hunt

So, when it was announced that the Greatest Tennis Player Of All Time (GOAT) was coming to the Key Arena, home of the old Supersonics at the foot of the Space Needle, the collective buzz in our tennis world was immediate and palpable. 18 time major champion, Roger Federer, playing perhaps the best tennis of his life, was COMING… TO… SEATTLE!

As we arrived at the venue and saw the masses packed in at the arena gates, we knew it was a sellout. You could almost hear them wonder, “will this be our last chance to see the sweetest swing ever made sizzle through the heart of a yellow ball?” When Roger finally walked through the concourse opening and onto the court, 15,000 fans showered him with an outpouring of love – wild screams and joyful tears of appreciation for what this champion has given to sport. Roger would be joined on court by Pearl Jam guitarist, Mike McReady, the friendly giant, John Isner, and finally Seattle’s tech icon and philanthropist, Bill Gates. The evening was to benefit children in Africa through the Roger Federer Foundation.

The tennis began with a comical doubles set, pitting McReady and Isner vs. Federer and Gates. Roger and John kept the crowd roaring with endless rapid-fire volley exchanges and working their magic alongside the comical shanks off the rackets of the celebrities. After intermission, John and Federer played a highly entertaining and high quality singles match won by Roger 6-4, 7-6.

Roger seemed genuinely touched by the affection of the crowd. He is after all a reluctant celebrity, much more comfortable playing joyfully with his fans than being showered by their attention. Roger is an artist for the ages. He seeks to bring out the beauty of the game and not the fame it, by necessity, brought. But he is now, in the peak of his career, using his fame to elevate the lives of hundreds of thousands of underserved children in Africa. By 2018 it will be a million. Roger recently met Bill Gates at the Indian Wells tournament, and the Match for Africa in Seattle was conceived and brought into being in less than two months. Roger intends for his new partnership with Bill and Melinda Gates to grow, and he promises to return to Seattle. The evening raised over $2,000,000, and now, the most impactful tennis player of all time will, in his next chapter, be the most relevant sport’s philanthropist of all time. All the more reason to be proud of our beloved G.O.A.T.