'Roger Federer likes emotions and strong stories', says Hefti

Roger Federer is almost ready to make his return to the field in the ATP 250 in Geneva, which will be his only preparation tournament at Roland Garros. The Swiss phenomenon has not played for a couple of months, having played only two matches in this initial part of 2021. In Doha, the former world number 1 had pushed up to the quarters, but he had succumbed to the future winner Nikoloz Basilashvili also wasting a match point in the third fraction. After testing his physical condition, the 20-time Grand Slam champion opted to carry out a further training block by giving up on Dubai and the Masters 1000 in Miami. The 39-year-old from Basel also announced his intention to take part in Roland Garros, which will start a week late due to the complex health situation in France. Meanwhile, King Roger shot a commercial with film legend Robert De Niro in order to promote tourism in his country. Interviewed by the 'Persoenlich.com' portal, the creative directors of the spot - Andre Hefti and Livio Dainese - revealed some interesting anecdotes about Federer.

Hefti praises Roger Federer

"Robert de Niro is a reserved person but has a lot of humor," Andre Hefti said. "And can laugh at himself. The idea obviously suited him. He also values Roger Federer very much and just wanted to do this with him." Livio Dainese, meanwhile, shed some light on Federer and De Niro's personalities as well as their performances in the commercial. "Roger Federer is exactly the down-to-earth guy you would expect," Livio Dainese said. "Simply a nice person who is also incredibly talented and successful. I was impressed by Roger's acting and his desire to try things out. And on the other hand Robert De Niro, who was already very good on the first take, but then improved again from take to take. Impressive." Interestingly, Hefti also mentioned that Roger Federer is a fan of quality creative work on screen, which strongly hints that we could soon see the 20-time Major champion sharing screen with Tom Hanks. "Big names always sound exciting," Hefti said. "So we could just write a script. Experience shows that nothing is impossible. And Roger likes emotions and strong stories. Let's see where that can lead." With the successful completion of the Mutua Madrid Open 2021, fans will witness some exciting tennis at the Italian Open 2021. The main event of the tournament will begin tomorrow, but some big names from the sport will miss the Rome Masters this year, including Roger Federer and Venus Williams.

 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3o5WbtS