Roger Federer and Bill Gates to play charity tennis match on 30 April 2017
The Richest Man in the World...vs the Richest Man in Tennis? One might not think of those two as being tennis partners, but that is set to become a reality on Sunday, the 30th of April 2017, when Microsoft founder Gates and 18-time Major winner Roger Federer play a match for charity in the USA. Gates revealed the news in a post to his Facebook page, where he will also be streaming the match live.
Federer and Gates will not play against each other – but as doubles partners against the big-serving John Isner and who they say is an ‘undisclosed surprise celebrity partner,’ who could perhaps be a Hollywood fixture – or Gates’ longtime friend and avid tennis fan Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle.
Gates is a constant fixture at Federer’s matches, and even in 2017 has already been spotted with wife Melinda taking in multiple matches at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California.
Gates, who returned last year to being the richest man in the world, is also one of the world’s leading philanthropists. The 61-year-old, who with his wife set up the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000, has US $45bilion in endowments, $28bn of which was donated by Gates himself.
The American icon has worked worlwide with causes that range from education to health in every pocket of the world, working to eradicate infectious diseases and curtail preventable deaths from those diseases, especially in third world countries; Gates has also donated to agricultural activity, academic research, drug development, sanitation projects worldwide – and more.
Federer is one of sport’s biggest philanthropists, and set up the Roger Federer Foundation in 2003, aiming it specifically to help children from disadvantaged parts of the world, giving them access to education and sport. The foundation – and Federer’s own charitable work – has since extended to South Africa – the home country of his mother, Lynnette, and like Gates has been doing extensive work with AIDS sufferers in India in addition to numerous private donations.
The Roger Federer Foundation will be hosting the match, with Gates streaming it live on his Facebook page, calling for donations to the foundation, with the match aimed at spreading awareness of the causes the two espouse – in this case, the education of disadvantaged children in Africa.
All donations will go entirely to charity.
For Indian watchers, the match will be streamed at 0600 hours on Sunday, the 30th of April.