The day Roger Federer couldn’t stop laughing at CNN correspondent’s Spanish phrases. The tennis star and the CNN anchor, Andi Petrillo, had just discussed the fascination of playing as a “tough kid on a mission” with the world’s top players.
‘Tough kid on a mission’: Federer finds new use for his tennis momentum
‘Tough kid on a mission’: Federer finds new use for his tennis momentum
‘Tough kid on a mission’: Federer finds new use for his tennis momentum
LONDON – Roger Federer was on Wednesday night.
But he was standing on the edge of a cliff, not playing tennis on a cliff, at his WTA Finals semifinal match against China’s Li Na. As both were on court and on TV — or as they were, for a moment, in the background while watching CNN, with Andi Petrillo.
Federer’s opponent was Li, the third seeded woman in her seventeen-year career in tennis.
Federer, the top seed, faced a fourth seed, who made him look good in an hour.
It was a matchup of two players with big titles and an appetite to prove it.
Now, Federer has a way of proving that he can be tough, not only to his opponents, but to the world.
The Swiss played just 25 minutes at the All England Club in the fist of a long, hard season that includes the US Open, the Olympics, and a year in which he lost in the final of the Olympic bronze medal match.
Petrillo’s report on the first set’s drama between Li and Federer, a set that ended the match 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5), was a big part of the TV story.
And Federer was a part of it.
Petrillo was on the court early before Federer and his adversaries, looking on on the edge of the fourth and final court.
“Well, I think I just can’t believe that Roger is going to play on that