Roger Federer in Shanghai, Basel resident’s troubles in China – Le Temps

What was Roger Federer doing in China? The Basel player, who we hope to finally see next week in the venues of the Swiss Indoors, which was “his competition” before he fell out with the real owner, Roger Brennwald, has been rather rare since his farewell in September 2022 in London. In fact it is largely hidden, since it still travels a lot in parallel with the ATP tournaments, whether it is for appearances related to its sponsors, interventions as part of the his philanthropic activities, or a combination of the two.

Everywhere, he is asked to continue doing what he does best: playing tennis. With the guests of his partners, with old celebrities, with famous people, with children. On courts on the ATP circuit or in private clubs, when it’s not in big stadiums or unusual places. He began to honor this type of service, which can be part of contracts concluded with brands (which often specify several days or half a day per year of opportunity) or be paid separately, long before the end of his career. In 2012, we saw him, and we followed him, because he scored two in one morning in Bogota. Equipped with a wireless headset, he hit balls with children while referring to the loud exchanges, in English, to the public gathered in this particular setting. He seemed very comfortable, talkative, and having a lot of fun.

At its ideal weight

At the Rolex Masters in Shanghai, Roger Federer, who kept his weight healthy, appeared in several activities around the biggest Asian tournament, with the support of one of his closest partners. He first spoke on October 8 with young Chinese tennis talents from the mountainous Yunnan region. The operation, organized by the company Zurich On, of which he is a shareholder and which opened a large store in Hong Kong this spring in his presence, was widely reported by the local media. . AN Daily China features Li Jiao and Peng Shiya, two 16-year-old players who hit “an average of 7,000 balls a day” and fall asleep in the evening under a poster of their idol. Referring to Federer not without special lyricism, the official Chinese daily English says that “love [du sport] it is the seed of dreams, and it is the persistence and hard work of the sun and the rain that make these seeds grow.

In the following days, Federer visited Qi Zhong Stadium, a place where the retractable roof opens and closes like the petals of a magnolia tree. He founded it in 2005, when he was at the height of his discipline. Here he won the season-ending Masters twice (2006 and 2007) and the ATP championship twice (2014 and 2017). Here, he was always loved, more than anywhere else, and he always knew how to thank an audience that sometimes came from very far away ( a group of fans he met in 2007 had traveled twenty-eight hours by train to reach Shanghai.

In the basement of Qi Zhong Stadium, he also played table tennis with Fan Zhendong and Wang Liqin, a double Olympic champion and triple world champion. Obviously very comfortable with the racket in hand, Federer was evenly matched … until the Chinese started playing seriously or had fun adding spin to their ball. Enough to feed social networks with videos before the big event, “Federer Fans Day”, Saturday October 11. An evening organized by Red Bull (not a regular partner of Basel), was established in 2023 .Federer found the two ping-pong champions there but also the pop singer Eason Chan and the current best Chinese player Zhizhen Zhang (45th world). Here again, Switzerland had a microphone to entertain the public.

Busy schedule

The next day, the star graced the final of the competition with his presence. Roger Federer was sitting next to Carlos Alcaraz, released two days earlier by Tomas Machac and who was to take the plane the same evening with Sinner and Djokovic for Riyadh and a lucrative show, Six Kings Slam, with Medvedev, Rune and Nadal. Alcaraz and Federer share many things, including a partnership with Rolex.

Federer’s advertising contracts continue to earn him an amount that the magazine Forbes estimated at 95 million dollars for the year 2023. If his presence was very hidden at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, he was more visible at the US Open, the big tournament before his Laver Cup. Asia, and especially China, is an important market for him. The Basel native came to Shanghai at the beginning of the year, mainly filming a series of four videos way of life for Uniqlo called “24 hours with Roger”, a concept that is also available in Tokyo, New York, London, Paris.

In Shanghai on Sunday, Roger Federer had time to take an interest in tennis and watch the game. “Alcaraz and Sinner won two Grand Slams this season. The new wave is coming big, and it’s strong. I think the audience will have a lot of fun with these two,” he said. On the court, Novak Djokovic was having fun with the situation. “It’s good to see you, Roger, even although this is the first time I think I’ve played in front of you. It put a little pressure on me.” …