Andy Murray Takes Cheeky Jibe at Roger Federer After Swiss Maestro’s Practice Session in Shanghai
Roger Federer watched Valentin Vacherot win the Shanghai Masters by beating his cousin Arthur Rinderknech.
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Andy Murray and Roger Federer (via Sky Sports)
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The Shanghai Masters was concluded on October 12 and saw a new champion in the form of Valentin Vacherot. The Monegasque locked horns with his cousin Arthur Rinderknech, claiming his career’s first ATP win after a three-set match.
Watching the match from the Qizhong Stadium was two-time Shanghai Masters champion Roger Federer. The Swiss maestro, winner of the 2014 and 2017 Shanghai events, shared a clip of his practice session on his Instagram. In the classic Andy Murray fashion, the Scot dropped a cheeky comment mocking Federer’s tennis skills.
If you could have disguised your toss better you would have been some player.
Check out his comment here:
Federer was in Shanghai for an exhibition event where he and actor Donnie Yen beat actor Wu Lei and former WTA player Zheng Jie. The 44-year-old was also in San Francisco for the Laver Cup, where Team World stopped Team Europe from defending their title.
Federer called time on his illustrious career at the 2022 Laver Cup, and two years later, Murray joined him on the retirement list. The 38-year-old hung up his racket at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The last time Federer won a title was the 2019 Swiss Indoors, where he defeated Alex de Minaur to clinch the ATP 500 title. His last Grand Slam title was the 2018 Australian Open. Murray’s last title also came in 2019, at the European Open, which he won by beating Stan Wawrinka. Federer clashed with the three-time Grand Slam champion 25 times and held a 14-11 lead. Both the former World No.1s are enjoying golf post-retirement.
Tony Godsick recalls Anna Wintour’s role in Roger Federer’s Uniqlo deal
Back in 2018, Roger Federer signed a $300 million deal with Uniqlo after his agent, Tony Godsick, failed to renew the contract. During Andy Roddick’s Served podcast, Godsick revealed that Federer did not leave Nike, as it was the other way round.
Then Godsick talked about the time when he breakfasted with former Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who helped him get in touch with the CEO of Uniqlo, Tadashi Yanai.
And I couldn’t get to Mr. Yanai and Anna Wintour, who I owe a tremendous amount to, besides being one of my favorite people in the world. She was actually, I remember having breakfast with her at the Mark Hotel in New York City in her table, table 21 in the far right corner. And I said, I need a favor. Do you know Mr. Yanai? She said I know him. So she sent a note, and 12 hours later, I had a message back from the assistant of Mr. Yanai saying that he understands you want to meet about Roger Federer.
Godsick eventually met Yanai, who asked him whether his intention was also to look for more brand deals in Japan. Yanai also told him about another athlete whose contract was over with Nike, but after approaching Uniqlo, Nike matched the deal offer, and the athlete chose not to stay with Uniqlo.
I went, and it was a great meeting. I explained the situation. He knew what was going on. The first thing he asked me was who else are you here to see, and I told him nobody else. He said I will give you more time than 30 minutes and then he asked a really good question.
Tony Godsick added
Uniqlo doesn’t make sports footwear. Federer then approached Swiss brand On and took an equity stake in 2019. That decision has now made the 20-time Grand Slam champion a billionaire, as per Forbes.
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