David de Gea Shows Off Tennis Skills, Jokes This Is ‘How Roger Federer Learnt His Backhand’

When Roger Federer hung up his racket at the 2022 Laver Cup, tributes from all corners started pouring in. Among all the heartwarming messages that Federer received, one was from soccer player David de Gea.

“Definition of class: @rogerfederer Tennis will miss you! Thank you for all the memories maestro,” de Gea had written in September 2022, on X. De Gea, the ACF Fiorentina goalkeeper, who played for Manchester United for 12 years, is also a tennis fan. If one scrolls through his Instagram, they will come across a few pictures of him posing with tennis greats. Then there are also clips of him playing tennis.

Back in 2021, he uploaded a clip of himself playing tennis and asked the US Open whether he was “on time to get a wild card?” Also on Wednesday (June 17), de Gea took to Instagram and showed off his tennis skills, captioning the video with: “Now you can see how @rogerfederer  learnt his backhand.“

Check out his post here:

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A post shared by David De Gea (@d_degeaofficial)

In his career’s last official match, Federer paired up with his old foe Rafael Nadal in the 2022 Laver Cup, and they lost to Team World’s Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe. The winner of 103 singles titles from 157 finals last won a tour-level title at the 2019 Swiss Indoors by defeating Alex de Minaur.

Aryna Sabalenka jokes after being asked a Roger Federer question

Aryna Sabalenka is in Berlin, bidding to win her career’s first grass-court title. She will be hoping to reach the semifinal for the first time since the Miami Open, as she suffered defeats in the three clay-court events she played, including at the French Open, before reaching the last four.

The Belarusian ace kicked off her campaign in Berlin with a straight-set win over Ekaterina Alexandrova. Then, during the on-court interview, she was asked how often she wakes up in the morning and thinks she is a World No.1 and that “life is terrific“.

Never. I think if I’d wake up like that I wouldn’t be No. 1 for so many weeks.

Aryna Sabalenka said

The interviewer then told her this: “I talked once to Roger Federer, and he told me, ‘There’s No. 1, and there’s everyone else.’ Is he right?” Sabalenka responded with: “I don’t think he said that.“

The first seed will next face wild card Nikola Bartunkova, who defeated Elise Mertens. Sabalenka, the winner of 24 singles titles from 44 finals, has played two title matches on grass: lost the 2018 Eastbourne International to Caroline Wozniacki and the 2022 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships to Alexandrova.

Sabalenka is chasing her fourth title of the season in the German capital. She defended her title at the Brisbane International by beating Marta Kostyuk but lost the Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina.

After skipping the two WTA 1000 events in the Middle East, the four-time Grand Slam champion completed the Sunshine Double by beating Rybakina in Indian Wells and Coco Gauff in Miami. But then she failed to defend her title at the Madrid Open, losing to Hailey Baptiste in the quarterfinals.

In Rome, Sorana Cirstea knocked her out in the third round, while in Paris, Diana Shnaider eliminated her in the quarterfinals. Because of these results, Sabalenka’s No.1 ranking is in danger. She sits at the top with 9,090 points, while second-ranked Rybakina has 8,143.

After Berlin, Sabalenka will play at Wimbledon, the main draw of which starts on June 29. She is a three-time semifinalist at SW19, also reaching the stage last year and losing the match to eventual runner-up Amanda Anisimova. Later, the American lost the final 6-0, 6-0 to Iga Swiatek.

Also read: Andy Murray Reveals Reasons for Accepting Coaching Role Under Jack Draper