Rod Laver is one of the best tennis players of all time and a living legend in the tennis circuit. Now the Australian surprised the world’s number one Roger Federer with a great gift.
Two loins of tennis among themselves. After his 17. Victory in a row in 2018 got Roger Federer high visit from one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Rod Laver visited the “Maestro” after the semi-final in Indian Wells against Borna Coric. Previously, Federer had had a hard time against the 21-year-old Croatian and just won 5:7, 6:4 and 6:4.
As a reward, Laver, the only player to win the Grand Slam twice, handed over an old bat from his collection. His old Dunlop Maxply helped Laver to great victories in the past.
The wooden playground equipment will serve Federer as a memento of the best start to the season of his career. Laver wrote in the bat: “For the greatest of all times, by Rod” Never before had the Swiss started a year with 17 victories in a row.
To Federer’s surprise, Laver explained that in some phases he had played an entire tournament with the same strings. Nowadays, professionals change clubs several times during a match.
Besides Laver, Pete Sampras – also one of the greats of the sport – was in the audience in Indian Wells and watched the Swiss, “I saw Sampras and Laver sitting in the audience and thought what they would think,” Federer explained after his match. However, it is anything but unpleasant to register legends of one’s own sport in the audience, says Federer:”It’s simply great to see former players there. It’s probably the greatest incentive and motivation a player can get.”