"Love Roger Federer's evil laugh at the end", "Missing them even more" - Fans recall Swiss jokingly teasing Rafael Nadal at South Africa exhibition
Some tennis fans fondly recalled Roger Federer joking about the orange hard court at the Match for Africa ahead of his two exhibition encounters against Rafael Nadal.
The 'Match for Africa' is an exhibition event organized by Federer which was first held in December 2010. Its major purpose is to raise money for the Roger Federer Foundation, which aims to provide upliftment to children in Africa.
Federer, whose mother hails from South Africa, invited Nadal to participate in the sixth edition of the event, which would be held on February 7, 2020, in Cape Town, South Africa. Before the start of the exhibition matches, the Swiss joked about the color of the court at the Cape Town Stadium.
Federer said that the hard court was orange in color to make Nadal feel more at home, given the 'King of Clay's dominance on clay courts.
"Amazing [as he spins the camera around to give fans a view of the arena], and we got the orange color for Rafa, so he feels like he is on clay, but it's hard court", said the Swiss in a video.
Fans recalled the moment and shared their reactions to the same on X (formerly Twitter).
"I love his [Roger Federer's] evil laugh at the end 😂🤣", read one tweet.
Another user commented:
"Missing them even more today…"
Here is a selection of reactions from other fans on X:
In the first match of the event, Federer and Bill Gates teamed up to beat Nadal and 'The Daily Show' host Trevor Noah 6-3 in the doubles encounter. Federer then downed the 22-time Grand Slam champion 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in their singles match.
Together, they raised $3.5 million for charity, and the stadium, housing a capacity 51,954 crowd, also set the record for the highest attendance ever at a tennis match.
A brief look at Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's H2H record on clay
Rafael Nadal's dominance on clay courts is arguably unmatched. He boasts an impeccable 63-8 record in finals of clay court tournaments and has lost just three of his 115 matches at Roland Garros — the only clay-court Major.
Roger Federer and Nadal are good friends off the court but shared one of the most intense rivalries on it in their heyday. They faced each other 40 times in singles matches, with the Spaniard holding a 24-16 lead.
That advantage is majorly due to the 37-year-old's dominance against Federer in their matches on clay. They faced each other 16 times in singles matches on the surface, with the Swiss winning just twice.
Federer's first win came in the 2007 Hamburg Masters final, where he won 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 to end Nadal's 81-match winning run on the surface. He also bested the Spaniard in the final of the 2009 Madrid Masters, winning 6-4, 6-4.