The Match in Africa 6, benefitting the Roger Federer Foundation, will take place on Friday in Cape Town, South Africa.
It is the sixth installment of this event but the first actually in Africa (hence the renamed Match in Africa instead of Match for Africa), and also the second featuring Federer’s most famous rival: Rafael Nadal. After the 2010 debut between Federer and Nadal, the Swiss’ ensuing opponents were Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray, John Isner, and Jack Sock. Locations have ranged from Zurich (three times) to Seattle to San Jose.
Match No. 6 has the star power (Federer, Nadal, Bill Gates, and Trevor Noah) and an unprecedented setting. Not only is it in Africa, but the attendance record for a single tennis match is expected to be broken with more than 50,000 fans.
“This Match in Africa is a dream come true,” Federer assured. “I will play in my mother’s home country against my toughest rival and friend Rafa Nadal. We share not only the love for tennis but also for the good cause of giving children a better start in education and in life. I feel privileged to have other leading philanthropists on board to entertain millions of people in the stadium and on TV. It will be a once-in-a lifetime moment for [me and my family].
“As the idea grew and it ended up let’s try to go big and we went bigger and bigger. For me at one point when I realized something very special could happen, for me it was only Rafa who could make this event truly special for the people here. I have the connection to Rafa if somebody could maybe bring him down to South Africa it is me. I asked him and he said yes right away.”
“Roger and I have shared so many magical moments on and off the court,” Nadal commented. “Traveling with him to Cape Town and playing for the benefit of children is something I am very excited about. It will be my first time in the region with Roger as a tour guide…that will be fun.”
As always, all proceeds will go to Federer’s foundation–which has raised $52 million over the years to educate more than 1.5 million children in six different African countries as well as Switzerland.
Leave a Reply