Roger Federer visits the Allee named after him in Halle – Tennis News
16-time Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer of Switzerland, attended the inauguration of Roger-Federer-Allee at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany on Monday.
Tournament director of the ATP World Tour 250 event in Halle, Ralf Weber, and the city’s mayor, Rodenbrock-Wesselmann, and hundreds of fans accompanied the Swiss legend at the official unveiling of the allee named after one of
the best tennis players of all time.
Weber stated that Halle’s residents admire Federer and everyone is happy that they have named the street after the legendary tennis player.
Talking to the media people on the occasion, Federer said, “It is a great honour for me that a street is named after me. In Switzerland and Austria I have a stamp. The street is something you can only hope for and it’s kind of
surreal when it happens.”
The Swiss Maestro really likes the Gerry Weber Open and also the city of Halle. He is participating for the 10th time at this event during his career. The right-hander featured here for the first time in 2000, when he
lost to the then world number 28, Michael Chang of USA, in the quarter-finals. After losing again at the final-eight stage in 2001 and last four in 2002, Federer captured his first winning trophy in the following year by beating Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer in
the final.
That started a long love affair between Federer and Gerry Weber Open, as the Swiss star went on to capture three more titles in a row. He skipped the event in 2007 but came back to grab the crown once more in 2008. The Swiss Maestro
did not play the tournament in the subsequent season due to personal reasons. Making another comeback to one of his favourite events on the ATP World Tour in 2010, Federer was stunned by former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt, in a three set thriller 6-3,
6-7(4), 4-6 in the title match. The Bottmingen, Switzerland resident skipped the tournament again in 2011 due to fatigue.
He added, “I’m overjoyed to be forever linked to a tournament like here in Halle, not only through the victories but also beyond. That really makes me happy for the fans, for the tournament and for myself it is a great honour.
Therefore, I am happy to come back in the next years and always be welcome. That is very pleasant.”
Federer will start the campaign to win his sixth Gerry Weber Open title against Germany’s Florian Mayer in the second round encounter on Tuesday.
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