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March 30, 2005
Federer relishing first taste of real thing
By Sally Jones, Telegraph
World No 1 Roger Federer has revealed a novel element to his preparations for the defence of his Wimbledon title
in June; a visit to Hampton Court for his first taste of real tennis,
the royal, ancient and utterly dignified forerunner of that
Johnny-come-lately game played amid huge hype and razzamatazz on the
lawns of the All England Club each summer.
On
June 15, just five days before the start of The Championships, while
most of his rivals will be fine tuning their games on grass in
Nottingham or Holland, Federer, with a little help from former world
champion Chris Ronaldson, will be manhandling a heavy, asymmetric
wooden racket, thrashing solid, handmade balls over a drooping net and
off the walls and wooden porches called penthouses as he attempts to
master the all-important cut stroke plus arcane specialities like the
giraffe, the boomerang and the railroad serve. Once
he has absorbed the rudiments, the Swiss, partnering BBC sports
presenter John Inverdale, will take on Ronaldson, the Hampton Court
head professional and jeweller Neil Duckworth, both experienced
players, in a doubles. The session was originally
designed as a promotional appearance for Federer's watch sponsor,
Maurice Lacroix, the traditional Zurich-based firm which signed him as
their brand ambassador last year. Federer, whose
defeat by Marat Safin in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in
January ended an extraordinary 26-match winning streak, is adamant that
his visit to Hampton Court is far more than just another corporate
beano. "I am fascinated by the history of tennis
and learning about the old champions so I'm really looking forward to
trying the historic game that gave us modern-day lawn tennis," he
enthused. "I've always refused to play in the typical pro-am tennis
events that many sponsors organise as I feel it's easy to lose your
competitive edge if you're not playing seriously, but this is
different. To play this subtle, challenging game at Hampton Court, the
most famous real tennis court in the world, and learn from the most
influential of all the modern-day players should be an amazing
experience.'' Several former champions have also
tried their hand at the ancient game, among them Stan Smith, the
Woodies [Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde], Martina Navratilova and
even Gabriela Sabatini, in full Edwardian tennis gear. The
world real tennis champion, Robert Fahey, a charismatic Aussie, was
once a junior international and Tasmanian Open lawn tennis champion who
gave Pat Rafter a run for his money. Though unlike his counterparts in
the modern game, for whom a million is just loose change, even on a
good year he would be hard put to clear £100,000.
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