Roger Federer may not be sponsored by Barilla anymore, but such is the impact of the superstar on his fans that one of his old ads with the Italian pasta brand has gone viral. In the ad, he fulfilled a promise he made to a young fan who wanted to play a match against him someday. The fan is from the United States named Zizou.
Zizou became popular after a press conference at the 2017 US Open. Zizou requested Federer to continue playing for at least 8-9 years. Federer, in reply, made a ‘pinky promise’ to the child, which made him happy and won hearts.
But Federer retired in 2022 and that is when Barilla came up with an idea to use that press conference and help Federer keep up to his word for their marketing campaign. They invited Zizou to Zurich, who was unaware of the surprise waiting for him as he was given ‘VIP treatment’ by a restaurant, which involved its owner coming up to him to click a selfie. She also revealed how she was wearing a t-shirt with Zizou’s face printed on it.
The youngster was stunned by the kind of treatment he received. He was then taken to the tennis court nearby where he got to know that he was going to finally play against Federer. The youngster was overwhelmed and couldn’t contain his emotions.
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The two then played a match together but the result of the game wasn’t revealed as the video ended with both being served some Barilla pasta when asked about who won the match. Federer even joked about how pasta saved them from revealing the winner of the game and asked Zizou to enjoy his meal with him.
Zizou hails from Kashmir, India and currently trains at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York City. He is studying at the Dwight Global Online School.
The youngster has not yet turned pro and currently plays at the juniors level. He has been a part of a lot of tournaments and camps, especially the ones held at McEnroe’s academy. He is ranked No.5 in the UTR Under-14 Ratings, indicating that the boy has a bright future once he actually turns pro in the sport.
In fact, on Instagram, Zizou already has more than 31,000 followers and in his bio, he mentioned Federer to show why he first became popular. His profile picture understandably involves a picture he took with him during that ad campaign. Zizou is also sponsored by Fila, Babolat and BNP Paribas, an impressive feat for a player who hasn’t even turned 18 yet.
