It’s that time of the year when Tennis fans across the globe hook themselves to their TV sets and cannot afford to miss even a second. As you have already guessed, it’s Wimbledon time. And with the biggest event in the history of the sport up and running, there is no stopping its favorite child – Roger Federer.
The Swiss maestro has already defeated the first four opponents and is set to face Kevin Anderson in the quarters. With a 9th Wimbledon title on the cards, Federer looks in ruthless form and has now won 32 consecutive sets to reach the last 8 of the competition.
Federer cruised past Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in his Round of 16 match on Monday in a thumping 6-0 7-5 6-4 victory. However, apart from the Federer’s unmatched brilliance, there was another incident from the encounter, which has become a talking point.
In the first set when Federer led 2-0, the 36-year-old came up with a solid defense on a Mannarino return. No, it was not really a tennis shot, but a cricketing block from the elegant stroke player.
The prestigious Centre Court at the All England Club became witness to the iconic moment and Twitter went crazy over the clip. The clip was shared from Wimbledon’s official Twitter handle where they asked the apex body of cricket, the ICC, to rate the defense!
Ratings for @rogerfederer's forward defence, @ICC?#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/VVAt2wHPa4
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2018
Wait, that’s not all. In the best possible reply to the tweet, ICC gave Roger Federer the number 1 position in the Test batting rankings! Yaaaas.
*sigh* ok… 👇 pic.twitter.com/KXnhaznxL8
— ICC (@ICC) July 9, 2018
ICC also posted superimposed pictures of Federer and Sachin Tendulkar in Spiderman costumes. They captioned it with “When greatness recognises greatness.”
When greatness recognises greatness 👌 pic.twitter.com/UB2hJli5gw
— ICC (@ICC) July 9, 2018
While cricket fans were left scratching their heads and wondering if Rahul Dravid is secretly coaching Federer or not, Sachin Tendulkar came up with a tweet for his good bud.
As always, great hand-eye co-ordination. @rogerfederer, let’s exchange notes on cricket and tennis after you win your 9th @Wimbledon title 😜👍 https://t.co/2TNUHGn1zK
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 10, 2018
And when the ‘God’ has said it himself, Roger Federer might well be lifting his 9th Wimbledon title. Also, it would be interesting to see Federer’s reply to the master’s tweet!