Roger Federer with Sachin Tendulkar during Wimbledon 2011.
Swiss Tennis great Roger Federer reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon 2018 with a straight-sets victory over Adrian Mannarino of France on Monday. Though he has enthralled spectators with his effortless gameplay countless times over the years, there was a particular moment during his fourth-round match which made the maestro an instant Internet sensation. (Also Read: Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal bring best to Wimbledon's Centre Court)
Federer was seen playing a cricket shot - a near perfect forward defensive push - during the match against the Frenchman. The official account of Wimbledon caught the moment and later posted it with a message saying: 'Ratings for @rogerfederer's forward defence, @ICC?#Wimbledon'.
The governing body of world cricket - International Cricket Council (ICC) - replied to the above message with a picture of the updated Test batting rankings showing Federer at the top.
Later the ICC also tweeted a picture of cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar along with the Swiss legend - both in Spiderman suits with the message: 'When greatness recognises greatness'.
Never one to miss out on a half volley, Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar, who is also a friend of Federer, got a whiff of these comparisons and soon replied by saying that he wished to exchange notes on tennis and cricket after the tennis star wins Wimbledon.
Soon the cricket world caught on to the fun with England bowler Stuart Broad joining the mix when he started to think what should a bowler do to dismiss Roger Federer the batsman. He tweeted: 'What would the bowlers meeting be? Bowl Top of off stump with occasional bouncer?!'
At last Federer himself replied to his friend Sachin's tweet by saying: 'why wait? I'm ready to take notes! sachin_rt'
