Roger Federer did away with the Tokyo Olympics this week. But he can be happy to have sold 100% of his clothes and equipment auctioned at Christie’s, for nearly 4 million euros.
All proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Roger Federer Foundation, which funds educational projects for children in southern Africa and Switzerland.
The sale brought in a total of 3.98 million euros, while the goal was to reach a total of one million pounds (around 1.2 million euros).
“Sales are more than 3 times the low estimate,” auction house Christie’s said in a statement.
The auction of the shorts, polo shirts, rackets and other shoes of the champion with 20 Grand Slam titles took place in two stages: a live sale on June 23 in London as well as an online sale from June 23 to 14 July.
The London auction was devoted to the Swiss career in the four Grand Slam tournaments (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open) while the virtual auctions covered all of his 21 years on the circuit, since his first participation in the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000, at age 19.
The 300 lots sold online have found buyers in 44 countries, on 6 continents, said Christie’s.
The largest lot in the online sale – which consisted of three rackets used on London turf at Wimbledon in 2019 – sold at 162,500 pounds, more than 23 times its low estimate (estimate 7,000-10,000 pounds ).
“The prices achieved have been incredible, which makes me very happy because the money goes to the Roger Federer Foundation,” said the Swiss champion.
“We started collecting the items that accompanied me on the court because we thought that maybe one day we could do something useful with them. Mirka (his wife, editor’s note) and I are honored to see that the decision we have taken will make a profound difference for so many children, ”he added, quoted in the press release.
The Roger Federer collection is the largest collection of sports memorabilia ever released by a single owner, explained to the AFP a representative of Christie’s, during the presentation of some of the items up for auction.
At almost 40 years old, which he will celebrate on August 8, Federer dreamed of Olympic gold in Tokyo, his most important meeting of the year, or even the end of his career. But he announced on Tuesday that he was giving it up due to a recurrence of his right knee injury.
–
