Japanese Tennis Star Details Why Roger Federer is Similar to the Pokemon Pikachu

Recently, Yoshihito Nishioka played an interesting game to honor the 25th anniversary of Pokemon Red and Green’s release in Japan. The No. 2 men’s Japanese player is an avid Pokemon card collector and owns over a few thousand cards, including some rare ones. He even compared Roger Federer to a popular Pokemon.

Which Pokemon is Roger Federer?

As for the game, the host gave Nishioka names of a few fan-favorite Pokemons, and Nishioka had to choose which tennis player each Pokemon was.

After throwing down names of multiple Pokemon like Charizard, Squirtle, Gengar, the host asked Nishioka to pick a tennis star for Pikachu.

The 25-year-old talked about how Pikachu was the most popular Pokemon and loved across the world. Hence, Nishioka chose Roger Federer as the Pikachu of men’s tennis as he considers him the most famous player of the ATP Tour.

“For sure, it’s going to be Roger. I think men’s tennis most famous player is Roger Federer. … everyone knows Pikachu so Roger, yeah,” said Nishioka.

Having been on the tour since his debut in 1998, Federer has been the biggest star attraction for tennis fans across the globe and has popularised the sport through his inspiring journey.

Federer to make a comeback

After being sidelined because of knee surgery last February, Federer didn’t play the entire 2020 season citing rehabilitation. While most expected him to compete at the 2021 Australian Open, Federer withdrew from the tournament because his recovery process was behind schedule.

However, after more than a year, the 20-time Grand Slam champion will make a return on the tour at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha.

Interestingly, Federer has won three titles (2005, 2006, 2011) at the Qatar Open, which is the most won by any player in the tournament’s history. With the ATP 250 event beginning from March 8, the fans will finally witness the Swiss Maestro in action.