Roger Federer graced some of the most legendary courts in the sport’s history, like Wimbledon’s Centre Court, Arthur Ashe Stadium, and Rod Laver Arena. But 689 feet in the sky? That is quite an interesting narrative. Twenty years ago, he found himself atop the Burj Al Arab’s helipad, rallying against American legend Andre Agassi and turning the impossible into an effortless elegance. For the Swiss legend, tennis wasn’t always about tradition but theatrics. And this sky-high battle was unlike anything the sport had seen before. Even years later, the tennis fraternity remembers the iconic match with the same sense of wonder.

Agassi and Federer participated in an extraordinary exhibition match ahead of the 2005 Dubai Tennis Championships. They played their match approx. 689 feet above the ground, on the Burj Al Arab’s helipad, which was covered in grass and transformed into a tennis court. The tournament’s director, Salah Talak claimed that the event cost them around about $25,000, which was not a small amount to spend for an exhibition match. But it was worth it. Two decades on, the former American pro-Shelby Rogers had an amusing reaction as she looked back at the iconic event.

Rogers shared a clip of that intense match on Instagram. “20 years ago?!” she captioned with sheer amusement. Although no title or trophy was at stake, not even ranking points, the match promoted the Dubai Duty-Free Championship quite well, generating a PR value of more than $2 billion.

Agassi and Federer’s exhibition match lasted only 52 minutes with Federer dominating Agassi and beating him in straight sets by 6-3, 6-1. Despite the result, both the participants were thrilled about this once-in-a-lifetime moment. “This was an absolutely amazing experience. When you first get over how high you are and start playing, it’s an absolute joy and it was a great time. I had no issues with the height as long as I didn’t have to bungee jump off the side,” remarked Agassi with his usual humor. His Swiss opponent also echoed his sentiment.

“It was amazing. We had this picture-perfect day, no sand storms, just a clear day, no winds. I didn’t know at the time, when we were doing this, that it was going to have such an impact. I had an idea of how we could make it better; we had a helicopter, which was going to film it all around, really show on what kind of a platform we were playing, instead of just having a picture taken of the hotel,” Federer said.

While Federer’s excitement was quite evident back in 2005, the Swiss maestro later got another opportunity to share an unconventional battleground with one of his most cherished opponents.

Roger Federer battled Rafael Nadal on Qatar’s water

On January 3rd, 2011, the Swiss icon played against Rafael Nadal on a floating court in Doha to promote the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. It was a small court on top of a dhow, a traditional sailing vessel in the region. As history’s most cherished rivals shot a few balls, the scene was breathtakingly beautiful, almost as if the two greats of the sport were floating in their respective catamaran of a court. Federer and Nadal mostly indulged in volleys since the court was so low and submerged in the water that any ball hitting the ground was stopped immediately by the stream. The experience felt just as impressive to the participants as it was thrilling to the audience. “It was a fantastic experience. For the past three years, we have done a few different things, and this one was a very nice experience,” Nadal reflected.

Federer also shared a similar feeling. “Good fun. It was so different. You’re always excited and nervous to see how it will turn out. It is always nice promoting an event and an entire tour with Rafa,” he said. Five years later, the Swiss icon battled Nadal in a warmup session on a flying carpet in Qatar. During the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, these two legends hit balls on top of a hanging magic carpet to start the 2010 ATP World Tour.

Which one of these two events amused you more? Let us know in the comments below.