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Roger Federer to Auction off Massive Memorabilia Collection to Support Foundation
May 21, 2021
Tennis legend Roger Federer is set to auction off over 300 pieces of memorabilia from his Hall of Fame career to benefit his Roger Federer Foundation.
AFP's Eloi Rouyer reported Thursday that Federer is hoping to raise at least $1.4 million from two separate auctions, a live sale June 23 in London and an online sale from June 23 through July 14.
"The Roger Federer collection is the most important single-owner collection of sporting memorabilia that has ever come to the market," Christie's continental Europe managing director Bertold Mueller said.
Federer made his professional debut in 1998, and his first notable breakthrough came when he reached the semifinals of the men's tennis tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
The live auction will include 20 items from the 39-year-old Swiss superstar's appearances in tennis' four Grand Slam tournaments, and the online auction is going to feature around 300 lots from other events dating back to the 2000 Summer Games, per Rouyer.
"Roger Federer started collecting these items as early as 2000 with the help and support of his parents, of his wife, and they have collected these items for more than 20 years now, keeping them safe, labelling them, cataloging them," Mueller said. "They always had in mind that at some point they would want to turn it into something good, and now ... Federer has decided that the moment has come to put this all up for auction."
Among the items in the collection include the outfits he wore for the 2009 French Open final and the racket he used to win the 2012 Wimbledon title.
The most recent lots come from his comeback in the Doha event in March, which marked his first ATP Tour appearance since last year's Australian Open.
All sales benefit the Roger Federer Foundation, which "supports educational projects located in the region of southern Africa and Switzerland" with a focus on the "improvement of the quality of early learning and basic education and in Switzerland on the promotion of extracurricular activities for children affected by poverty."
Federer lost to Pablo Andujar in the Geneva Open on Tuesday, and he provided a blunt assessment of his chances to win the French Open, the season's second major that begins May 30.
"I think when you played so little and you know where your level is at, and I think you saw that today, how can I think of winning the French Open?" he told reporters. "I'm just realistic that I know I will not win the French, and whoever thought I would or could win it is wrong."
Federer will look to round into form before the start of Wimbledon, which he's won a record eight times on the men's side, in late June.