A record-man with his racquet, Roger Federer has been one of the loyal ambassadors for the Italian pasta company, Barilla. He has been endorsing the brand for a long time now.
Federer has been on Tour for more than two decades now. All through these years, a couple of hours before the match, he eats pasta. It has been his staple diet ever since he turned professional. “Two hours before every match, I eat pasta with light sauce … I have been doing it for 20 years,” Roger once stated.
“Roger Federer perfectly represents Barilla’s three-S revolution” – Barilla
In 2017, Barilla began a new campaign called ‘Barilla Masters of Pasta’, which featured the master of tennis, Federer. Chef Davide Oldani, who is considered to be a master in cooking, was part of it as well.
The global leaders in Pasta supplies, Barilla believes their brand ambassador Roger Federer is the perfect portrayal of their firm.
“Roger perfectly represents Barilla’s three-S revolution: simplicity, sincerity and spontaneity, and embodies the true essence of sportsmanship: he is one who, regardless of numerous victories and successes, never ceases to get engaged or to improve himself. We have convinced Roger with our pasta and invited him to cook for us,” as stated by the firm.
Also, once Barilla made one of Federer’s fan’s dream come true. Italian spectator Daniela held a banner up during the 2019 Mutua Madrid Open, wherein she asked Roger for a dinner date. ‘I’ll cook’, it read. The banner also tagged Barilla.
The pasta brand got in touch with Daniela and shot a commercial with the lady. “Hello, my name is Daniela and I have two great passions in life: tennis and Roger Federer. When he plays, everything stops. I wanted to create something nice, you never know. So I invited him to dinner (at the Madrid Open),” she said.
After coming across her innate passion for cooking and love for the Swiss maestro, Barilla opened the gateways to set Roger and Daniela up for a dinner date.
In Roger Federer’s words: ‘I don’t understand why we have best-of-five finals..’
After a couple of miserable months and the results that were not in correlation with his ranking position, Roger Federer finally found the form in Vienna in October 2002 for the third title of the season and the fourth overall.
In the final, Roger took down Jiri Novak 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, saving seven out of ten break chances and stealing rival’s serve six times from 12 opportunities to secure a much-needed title. Novak managed to force a lot of errors from the Swiss but Roger dominated with his serve and forehand to fire more than 50 winners, playing better in the crucial moments to wrap up the encounter and avoid a decider.
Federer had the advantage in the shortest and most extended exchanges, kicking off the clash in a more reliable fashion for an early lead, breaking Novak in the sixth game after a solid forehand attack an firing a forehand winner in the next game to open up a 5-2 lead.
The Czech fended off two set points in game eight and broke back in the next game with a forehand winner, reducing the deficit to 5-4 and prolonging the action in the first set. Jiri wasted a game point in the next game and Roger found the way to score a break after a loose forehand from the Czech, taking the opener 6-4 and building the momentum ahead of the remaining sets.
Still, Novak was there to fight, converting the sixth break chance at the beginning of the second set and moving forward with a smash winner before losing the lead in the very next game when his backhand landed long. Federer placed a forehand down the line winner in the fourth game for another break of serve that sent him 3-1 up, repelling a break chance with an ace a few minutes later to increase the advantage.
It was all about the Swiss in those moments, with another break on his tally in game six thanks to a forehand down the line winner, closing the set with a solid hold that gave him two sets to love lead after just 69 minutes.
Novak raised his level in the third set, serving well and breaking Roger at 4-3 to grab the set on his serve when Federer netted an easy backhand. The Swiss kept his focus in set number four, though, dropping five points behind the initial shot and earning a break in the tenth game following a lucky net cord winner that carried him towards the fourth ATP title, continuing his charge through the rankings and returning into the top-10 where he would stay for the next 14 years!
A couple of days later in Madrid, Roger defeated Marcelo Rios in the second round to extend the winning streak, mentioning that Vienna final and saying he doesn’t understand why they have to play the best-of-five finals ahead of the more important Masters 1000 tournaments.
“It’s normal that I’m quite tired after Vienna. I don’t understand why do we have to play the best-of-five finals ahead of the Masters 1000 event; that’s not very smart. Luckily, I’m seeded in Madrid and I had a bye and a chance to start the tournament on Wednesday.
If it had to be Tuesday, it would have been challenging for me because I would have had no time to practice at all. Maybe we should have the best-of-three finals before the Masters Series and Majors.”
