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Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates winning match point during his Men’s Singles first round match against Steve Johnson of the United States of America on day one of the 2020 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 20, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
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Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates winning match point during his Men’s Singles first round match against Steve Johnson of the United States of America on day one of the 2020 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 20, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Most of the nations are witnessing or have already witnessed the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The virus has not only impacted economies but has adversely affected every sport, including tennis as well. However, two young girls came up with an idea to play tennis even during the lockdown. Their video went viral, and interestingly, it impressed Roger Federer as well.
Carola and Vittoria are two young Italian girls who started playing roof-top tennis during the lockdown. Since they couldn’t go out, they decided to move to their roofs and play some shots there. Carola used to stand on one roof and Vittoria on the other. In such a situation, there was no need for a net as they used to hit the ball on each other’s roof.
♥️ Two young Italian girls showed that not even the Covid-19 lockdown could stop their spirit of friendship & love of sport
🎾 Video of the girls playing rooftop tennis went viral, capturing the attention of @rogerfederer. Is this your Laureus Sporting Moment of the Year? pic.twitter.com/UDTvcyfS6I
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) April 16, 2021
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20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer liked the idea a lot. He himself traveled to their home in Italy and played some roof-top tennis with them. The two girls were surely motivated and couldn’t believe that Roger was standing on their roof!
“This is unbelievable. Roger Federer is on our roof. He wants to play tennis with us!” roared one of them in the video.
Considering this, Laureus Sports has included them in their list of the Laureus Sporting Moment of the Year. If they get the maximum votes, they’ll surely get the award for creating the best sporting moment in the year. With this, Federer has been once again in Laureus’ nomination along with Rafael Nadal.
“The passion doesn’t go away just because of a lockdown”- Roger Federer
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Federer revealed what really inspired him to reach out to the girls personally. He mentioned that he found roof-top tennis as a wonderful idea, especially during the lockdown.
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Roger Federer of Switzerland in action against David Goffin of Belgium. Day six of 2019 Rolex Shanghai Masters at Qi Zhong Tennis Centre in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images)
“When I saw the video on social media from the girls, I thought what a wonderful idea. The passion doesn’t go away just because of a lockdown,” said the former World No.1 in the video.
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Roger Federer is still on the road to gaining full match fitness and will hope to return to the court as soon as possible. Even though he is about to be 40, he surely still has a lot of tennis left in him. Will Federer be able to lift his 21st Grand Slam title this year?
Also Read: Rafael Nadal Inches Closer to Roger Federer in an Incredible Record at Monte Carlo Masters 2021
