Page 90 - Forbes - Africa (March 2020)

FORBES AFRICA
SPORT • TENNIS

“We’vegotastrongstrategy.IthinkRoger’satadisadvantage.We’re Federerhittinghisfamousbackhand,ashotthathasbeeninstrumental
bothhalfSwiss,halfSouthAfrican,soI’minhishead.Iknowwhat inhiscareer.Hewonthefirstsetby6-4.Nadaldidn’tholdbackeither.
he’sgoingtodo.Iwon’tuseittoomuchagainsthim.I’vegotoneofthe HeunleashedhislethalcurlingforehandshotonFedererasifitwas
greatestplayersthattheworldhaseverseennexttomesowe’regoing oneofthemany‘Fedal’GrandSlamfinalclassicsthattennisfanshave
tomakeitagoodmatch.It’sgoingtobeareallygoodmatch,”saidNoah. witnessedovertheyears.Nadalmanagedtoscoopthesecondset6-3.
HesaidplayingalongsideNadalwasagreatcombinationbecause Inthefinalset,hemadesomeerrorsthatusheredFederer’svictory,as
“theWorldCup2010wasinSouthAfrica.SpainwonthatWorldCup. hewonthematchby6-43-66-3.Thetwohuggeditoutbythenet.
Sowe’vegotaspecialconnectionrighthere.We’rebringingthatmagic ‘TheMatchInAfrica’raised$3.5million,thehighestamountthe
backtoday.” RogerFedererFoundationhasevernettedfromasingleexhibition
Noahbroughthistrademarkhumortothecourtbutthatwasn’t match.Theproceedswillhelpsupportchildren’seducationinAfrica
enoughtopullanupsetdespitehavingNadalonhisteam.Team astheexhibitionisallaboutempoweringchildren,inparticular,inthe
‘Gateserer’beatTeam‘N-Squared’6-3toholdontotheirunbeaten areaofearlychildhoodeducation.Theeventalsosetaworldrecordfor
streak.FederersaidonNoah’stennisgame:“Icouldn’tevenseethefeet, themostattendeesatasingletennismatch. Photos by Christiaan Kotze; Photo by Reg Caldecott

theyweresofast.” Sothenumbersbegthequestion:isSouthAfricareadyforatennis
Beforetheplayersheadedbackintothelockerrooms,Gatesspoke GrandSlam,orattheveryleast,readytobeaddedontothecalendars
abouttheworktheBill&MelindaGatesFoundationisdoinginAfrica. oftheATPandWTAtours?
“AlotoftheworkwedoinSouthAfricaistohelpfightHIVand Atleastonthisnight,itwasclear South Africans love sport. Maybe
tuberculosis.Andso,goingandmeetingthedoctors,seeingthepatients the game has only just begun.
andunderstandingthedrugs;howwecanmakethembetter.It’s
inspiringtoseethepeoplewhodotheworkinthefield.Thingshave
improvedinthoseareasbutthere’salotmoretodo.”
Preludingthemainmatchofthenight,theNdlovuYouthChoir,a
SouthAfricansinginggroupthatrecentlyappearedonAmerica’sGot
Talent,performedShakira’sfoot-tappingWakaWakasong.
Theatmospherewasreminiscentofthe2010FIFAWorldCup.The WHAT FEDERER
playersonceagainappearedfromtheplayers’tunnel,returningtocourt THOUGHT
andafrenziedcrowd. NADAL MUST
Spottedinthefront-rowwereSouthAfricanbillionairePatrice DO IN SOUTH
MotsepeandhisfashionentrepreneurwifeDrPreciousMoloi-
Motsepe,asalsothecountry’srugbylegendBrianHabana. AFRICA
FedererspokeaboutNadaltrailingbehindhimfortherecordofthe
mostGrandSlamwins. “I think Rafa has to go to Table
“Thegoodthingabouttonightisthathecannotcatchme.Tonight, Mountain, and then also of
I’mrelaxed.”Federerfurthersaidhewouldn’tmindifNadalcaughtup course to the Cape of Good
withhim,however,hewouldliketowinonemoreWimbledontitle. Hope, maybe some of the
SiyaKolisi,thefirstblackcaptainoftheSouthAfricanrugbyteam, vineyards, and Bo-Kaap – I
whichwontheRugbyWorldCuplatelastyear,alsomadeaspecial went there this morning… I
think [this trip] is going to make
appearance.Hecameoncourtbearingagiftfortherugbyteam’sspecial him want to come back to have
fan,Federer.Fromonechampiontoanother,Kolisihandedovera a proper time with his wife and
Number8greenSpringboksjerseywithFederer’ssurname written on maybe his kids, in the future,
ittosymbolizehisSouthAfricanroots. and really travel South Africa
Federerworeitandthetwochampionshugged. and Africa extensively. He came
“ThankyoutoallofyoubeautifulpeopleofSouthAfrica.We here for the 2010 FIFA World
appreciateeverythingyoudo.Rogerhasbeentellingmehowamazing Cup finals when Spain played
it’sbeensincehe’scomebackhere.Itjustshowshowmanygreatthings at Soccer City in Johannesburg
wecanachieveasacountry;forthesetwogentlementocomeouthere so he’s got a little taste here
andwanttoplayinSouthAfricaisreallyanawesomething.AndIhope already and I think this one is
itinspiresalotofpeopletocomehereanddothisbecausewe’vegot definitely going to motivate him
for many more returns,” said
beautifulfacilitiesliketheseandwecanfillupthestadiumwhichis Federer to FORBES AFRICA.
amazing,”saidKolisitoSuperSport.
In the end, tennis fans were treated to a thrilling match that saw

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