Rod Laver to attend Roger Federer's opening match in Melbourne
The six-time Australian Open champion Roger Federer is the greatest player of all time for the majority of the tennis world, including another legend Rod Laver, the winner of the last "real" Grand Slam back in 1969. The Swiss will kick off the 20th Australian Open in a row against Denis Istomin on Monday night on Rod Laver Arena and the man after who the stadium was named after will be there to watch Federer in action, always admiring the skills and tennis knowledge of the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
Rod Laver was there to present the trophy to Roger Federer in 2006 when the Swiss defeated Marcos Baghdatis for his second Australian Open crown and also during that emotional moment for Roger after the epic 2009 final that he lost to Rafael Nadal. Back in 2014, Roger had the unique privilege to hit with Rod Laver on the Rod Laver Arena and the great Aussie was there again to watch Roger in 2016 during his match against David Goffin. A year later, Laver presented the trophy to Roger following that extraordinary win over Rafael Nadal, getting another opportunity to come and enjoy in the Swiss' first match of this year's campaign in the night session on the Rod Laver Arena.
"Hitting with Rod Laver for me clearly is an absolute dream come true," Federer said back in 2014. "It's in his arena as well, it's named after him and he deserves it so much. He told me that his wrist was hurting less on the forehand so he asked me to play there a bit more often. While I was playing my racket was feeling extremely heavy, that means I was very nervous which I really was because you don't want to miss a shot. I was happy we had some rallies. What an honor it was for me and I hope that the crowd enjoyed it and I'm very thankful that he was willing to do something like this because it's not normal in any way and that's why I really appreciate it."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2Ft1HTQ
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