Federer reduced to tears on visit to Ethiopia

by Barry MALONE

TENNIS: KORE ROBA, Ethiopia, Feb 13 - World number one Roger Federer sends the ball spinning into the net.

His opponent, Ethiopian teenager, Jirata Demksa, smiles and prays the Swiss is having an off day.

But Federer just pauses and, taking a deep breath, serves a blistering ace.

The 17-year-old, realising he's beaten, simply shrugs.

"He's the best tennis player ever," he says.

"I am just lucky we played ping-pong." Jirata says he will never forget taking two points from Federer in an impromptu game of table tennis at a school the tennis ace funds in the poor country.

For Federer, this week's visit to Ethiopia was one that moved him to tears.

"When I arrived at the school and all of the children were singing, it was very emotional," Federer told Reuters.

"They sang, `Roger, our Father' to me. I didn't really understand it at the beginning but I still had tears in my eyes."

Federer, limbering up for an attempt to win all four grand slams in a calendar year having already claimed the Australian Open title, was taking some time out to visit Ethiopia - one of the countries his charitable organisation works in.

The Roger Federer Foundation, founded in 2003, spends $1 million a year on education in Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, Mali, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Mother's inspiration

"My Mum being from South Africa is obviously the inspiration behind the foundation," Federer said, as local kids screamed `Number one!' behind him.

"I went there on vacation a lot when I was younger. So we started with a project in South Africa and, as I got older and got more money, I wanted to expand." Eating a lunch of traditional injera - a sort of spongy pancake - with the students at one of two schools he pays for in the country, Federer was peppered with questions. Most of the children wanted to know if he had any of his own.

His seven-month old twin girls, Myla and Charlene, could eventually take over the charity Federer wants to continue long after he stops playing, he said.

"I definitely want to show them that this world exists as well," Federer said, gesturing at the tin-roofed classrooms around him.

"There's no way around it for them because I'll be travelling. It will be a very exciting ten years for me because I'll be trying to educate and help them and show them all these things." Ethiopia is the world's seventh largest recipient of foreign aid, receiving more than $1.94 billion in 2006, according to the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

About 12 million of the Horn of Africa country's people are reliant on foreign food aid to survive.

As multi-millionaire Federer drove through the streets of the capital Addis Ababa, four street kids caught a glimpse of him through the window of his coach.

Leaping to their feet, they ran after the bus.

"Federer! Federer! We love you! We love you!" they shouted.

Surprise recognition

For Federer, who has won 16 grand slam titles, the level of recognition in one of the world's poorest and most remote countries, more known for athletics than tennis, was a surprise.

"It's my first time here so I didn't expect this," he said.

Reuters