October 27, 2024

Open Court

MORE TENNIS THAN YOU'LL EVER NEED

Oz Pics: Smiling Federer has a hit

MELBOURNE – A Federer off-day hit is an exercise in chill.

Not a surprise since he’s been there, done that so many times.

On Saturday, his hitting partner of choice was Italy’s Andreas Seppi who – as it happens – will be the next opponent of Federer’s friend and Swiss teammate Stan Wawrinka. LOL

Coach Severin Luthi began it by picking up all the loose tennis balls on the court left behind by the previous occupants and handing them to a few fans in the large crowd. Federer bantered quite a bit with Seppi coach Massimo Sartori, who tried to crush a few forehand past the Swiss star just for kicks and giggles.

Here’s what it looked like.

The crush of people was just outrageous; they were piling into places where it was unlikely they’d even catch a glimpse of him.  You can see it in some of the pics.

Boris Becker was there. Even rising young Swiss player Rebeka Masarova (and her burgundy hair) were on hand to watch.

Afterwards, Federer spent a good chunk of time signing and smiling. The fans’ faces say it all – as they do whenever one of the big guns does this. Although with all due credit to Nadal and Djokovic, they get a ton of fans. But nothing like this.

 

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