Former world No. 1 Roger Federer made headlines in the past few weeks for his criticisms of the Davis Cup. The team tournament, which was held in Madrid this year, is getting a major makeover from Spanish football player Gerard Pique’s company, Kosmos.
Federer has been outspoken about his criticisms of the reforms. People saw his indifference to the tournament as him protesting the changes to the 108-year old sporting event.
Federer gets an impressive check for Latin American tour
While the Davis Cup was going on in Europe, the Swiss chose to fly to Latin America for a series of exhibition games with young German player Alexander Zverev. The tour, which had five stops within six days, saw the Swiss Maestro earning around $10 million.
It is said that Mextenis Director Raul Zurutuva has been trying to book Federer for an exhibition game for years. He credits their good relationship with agent Tony Godsick for the Swiss Maestro finally accepting their invite.
Federer is no stranger to blockbuster exhibition series. The world No.3 and Spanish rival Rafael Nadal memorably had a back-to-back game in Zurich and Madrid in 2010, with proceeds going to their respective foundations.
Federer, Zverev and their exhibition
Federer and the German flew to Santiago, Chile right after their ATP Finals in London to start the tour. There, the Swiss Maestro had a slim win over the younger German with the scores 6-3 4-6 6-4.
The two then went to Buenos Aires to play in the city’s historic Parque Roca Arena. Federer was supposed to butt heads with Argentinian tennis star Juan Martin del Potro but he had to pull out. There, Zverev got back at Federer, scoring 7-6 7-6.
Their third match would have been in Bogota. The match, however, had to be cancelled due to the ongoing unrest and curfew in Colombia. The two players promised that they will be back in the country to make up for their fans.
It was the Mexico City date that impressed the most, gathering 42,517 people in the Plaza del Toros to watch Federer defeat the world no. 7 at 3-6 6-4 6-2. That represents a world record for attendance in a tennis match.
They then ended their run in the Ruminahui Coliseum in Ecuador. Federer handily defeated Zverev in their last match.
Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev earnings
As two of the top players in tennis, Federer and Zverev earn a lot of money every year. It was reported that the current world no. 3 earned $93.4 million from July 2018 to July 2019. Meanwhile, Zverev has signed valuable endorsement contracts with Richard Mille and Adidas.
Roger Federer’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.3, the Swiss played his last match on the 16th of November when he had to bow to Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-4 in the semifinal in London.
This year Federer has a 51-10 win-loss record. Roger clinched 4 titles in 2019 in Dubai, in Miami, in Halle and in Basel. Federer was the finalist in Indian Wells and in Wimbledon.
Alexander Zverev’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.7, Alexander played his last match on the 16th of November when he surrendered to Dominic Thiem 7-5 6-3 in the semifinal in London.
This year Zverev has a 41-24 win-loss record. The German clinched 1 title in Geneva. The German was the finalist in Acapulco and in Shanghai.
Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev played each other 10 times. The head to head is 5-5.
The last time that they locked horns, Alexander Zverev won 6-3 6-77 6-3 in the quarter in Shanghai on the 11th October 2019.
Here the highlights.
Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev |
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