Roger Federer of Switzerland and Bill Gates in action against John Isner of the United States and musician Mike McCready at KeyArena on April 29, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Suzi Pratt/Getty Images)
Friendly shots have been fired ahead of Friday’s Match in Africa celebrity event, where Roger Federer and the world’s second richest man, Bill Gates, will take on Rafael Nadal and SA darling Trevor Noah in an exhibition doubles match.
Funny man Noah issued the initial challenge, noting how their opponents need to be “prepared for the crowd in SA to be on our side!”.
It’s a relatively ballsy (yes the pun was intended) statement to make given Federer’s South African roots, with his mother Lynette having been born in Johannesburg.
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Nonetheless, Gates replied with a workmanlike “Game on!”, while the Swiss legend came up with an interesting if somewhat clumsy name for the duo: Gaterer – an obvious mix between Gates and Federer.
That name might need a bit of work…
A day later, Federer and Nadal will battle each other in an attempt to set the record for the biggest attendance at any tennis match in history.
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