Roger Federer announced the name of the team he will play in alongside the co-founder of Microsoft Bill Gates to confront the pair formed by Rafael Nadal and the host of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah, in the “Match In Africa” exhibition taking place in Cape Town, South Africa, on 7 February.
Roger recently tweeted his and Gates’ team name and challenged Rafael and Noah to come up with a title for theirs as well. Federer and Gates decided that their best name would be ‘Gateserer’ — a combination of ‘Gates’ and the last part of ‘Federer’.
If Nadal and Trevor Noah would copy Roger and Bill’s name creation formula, one of the variants could be ‘Noahdal’, but we will have to wait until they find out the best one. However, the host of The Daily Show warned ‘Gateserer’ that the crowd in South Africa will be on their side.
This is because Trevor Noah will play in front of his co-nationals. Even if he is a TV star on American television, he was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. “Be prepared for the crowd in SA (South Africa) to be on our side” Noah said on Twitter.
Besides the doubles match, people attending the event will be able to see a masterclass duel between Nadal and Federer, and a few other surprises prepared by the organizers. The money raised during the event will go to disadvantaged African children through the Roger Federer Foundation.
Australian Open chief holds talks with Roger Federer, Serena Williams amidst retirement rumours
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley has claimed that he has spoken to Roger Federer and Serena Williams, also revealing that he was told that both of want to return to the Grand Slam next year.
“They are going to be back,” Tiley told Channel Nine. “They have all-but [committed].”
“We have spoken to them and they have full intentions to be here in 2021.”
“They are both still chasing records. They will continue to do that until they feel they can no longer do that,” he added further, before concluding:
“Both are at the top levels of their games still so they will be back in 2021.”
Both Roger Federer and Serena Williams are 38 years old each, and they are understandably moving towards the latter stages of their respective careers.
Federer, who is also the World No.3 in the current ATP rankings, reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open this week – where he lost to Novak Djokovic.
His No.3 ranking is now being threatened by World No. 5 Dominic Thiem, who will surpass him in the points tally if he defeats Djokovic in the Australian Open final.
Meanwhile, Williams crashed out of the first Grand Slam of the season in the third round against Qiang Wang.
Following their exits, neither star confirmed that they would be returning to the same tournament next year, thereby fuelling rumours of possible retirement.
