As one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Roger Federer would have had a chance to play on nearly all iconic tennis courts in the world. What surprises most is that of all the places, the venue on his bucket list was – Central Park, which he unexpectedly fulfilled due to his ‘back pain’.
In a conversation with Tennis.com, he revealed how it was difficult for him to commute during the final stages of his tennis career. Hence, during Federer’s last few US Open appearances, his back pain made it difficult for him to travel from Manhattan to Queens for practice. This sounded even more tiresome to him since he was only going to have light hittings in the practice session.
Hence, he found an opportunity to play at his bucket-list venue and thus, advised his coaches if he would rather play at the Central Park.
“I said to my coaches: Is it possible I can play in Central Park?,” Federer narrated the incident.
His coaches agreed and being Roger Federer, he got the chance to skip long queues followed by the Swiss maestro taking on the court at the Park. He practiced around normal people who had gathered there to play tennis, surprising them. “Are you kidding me? This is not real,” a fan reacted when he spotted Federer playing in the same surroundings, as the 20-time grand slam champion recalled.
This is not the first time that Federer played tennis in natural and common surroundings. Earlier, he was spotted swinging the racket at Dartmouth College, where he also addressed students before the beginning of the 2024 session.
Federer’s popularity in New York City is well known. Despite him being a non-American sports personality, he enjoys popularity equivalent to an NBA, NFL, or MLB player. A major reason behind this is his record five consecutive wins at the US Open, something no other tennis player has been able to achieve so far.
Proof of his admiration among the New York crowd was seen when he visited Arthur Ashe for the first time since his retirement this year. As soon as the announcer made the fans aware of his presence in the arena and the screen showed his image, the crowd went crazy. Federer recognized the audience’s love by standing up and waving his hand.
Welcome back, legend!
Great to have you in Arthur Ashe Stadium, @rogerfederer! pic.twitter.com/209TJGrf0l
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 4, 2024
An interesting Federer moment was also captured from the stands while he was watching the game with great focus, barely moving. The social media handle of the US Open compared the Swiss maestro’s footage with that of American comedian Kevin Hart, who was also present in the stadium at that time. Contrary to Federer, he was watching the game in a fun way by giving a jerk to his neck every time the ball was hit.
