That Roger Federer Is One Hell of a Guy

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You don’t need me to tell you what a niche sport tennis is in America. Most of my social circle doesn’t care anything about tennis outside of watching Paul Bettany and Kirsten Dunst in Wimbledon (2004).

Regardless of how you feel about the sport itself, you can’t help but be drawn in to stories such as the rise of Marcus Willis in the 2016 Wimbledon tournament. More so, you can’t help but recognize and respect the role of the sport’s greatest star, Roger Federer, in making this story so memorable.

From ESPN – Ranked No.772, Willis got a lucky break and received a wild card into Wimbledon pre-qualifying, where he won three matches. He won three more at Roehampton last week to secure his All England Club debut.

In his first tour-level match, he beat world No.54 Ricardas Berankis on Monday to guarantee himself £50,000 and a match with Federer on Centre Court.”

Just a few weeks prior to Wimbledon, this kid (he’s 25 – that counts as a kid, right?) was coaching at a boat club, contemplating retiring as a player because it just wasn’t working out for him (referring to that whole #772 ranking thing). His girlfriend finally convinced him to give it one more shot.

Next thing you know, he’s on Centre Court at Wimbledon playing Roger Federer.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Federer, but hearing his account of the events leading up to the match made me respect him even more.

“I didn’t know if he wanted to go out first,” said Federer. “I wanted the cooler experience for him, if it’s walking ahead of me or behind me.”

In the end it was Willis who led them out. “I thought it was cool that he got out first because it’s his moment, in my opinion. I wanted him to have a great time.”

This guy – wearing his Federer shirt, mind you – is preparing for the biggest game of his life on what can only be described as a fairy tale run. He’s going up against one of the greatest of all time, and Federer makes sure to stop and make the moment about him. That’s awesome.

I mean, yeah sure, it was probably because Federer knew he was going to run the guy off the court (and he did – 6-0, 6-3, 6-4). Still, that’s a very classy move.

Lo and behold, as if that wasn’t enough, the crowd erupted into a deafening standing ovation when Willis won his first game against Federer. After 85 minutes, Federer won the match, and quickly exited the court, allowing Willis to have his celebratory moment with an audience he had won over throughout the course of the tournament.

How cool is this story? This is precisely what sports are supposed to mean to the world. That Federer – he sure is one hell of a classy man.

Stoney Keeley is the editor of the SoBros Network, Tennessee Titans Featured Analyst for Pro Football Spot, and covers the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley,@PFSpot@WrestlingNewsCo

Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork

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