Roger Federer reveals being 'emotionally wasted' after calling off Bogota exhibition match

Tennis legend Roger Federer confessed that he broke down during last month’s tour of Mexico and South America after riots had taken place in Bogota, which is the capital city of Columbia. As a result, Federer was forced to cancel his exhibition match against Germany’s Alexander Zverev on their tour of South America recently. A candid documentary by ESPN called  “Roger Federer: Everywhere is Home”, which will air on Tuesday, covers the 20-time Grand Slam champion’s 5-country tour of the continent.

ALSO READ | Roger Federer is the most popular sportsman in the world ahead of Messi: Boris Becker

The documentary shows Roger Federer's journey, including the historic match in Mexico City's 'Bull Ring' where 42,517 ardent fans witnessed him take on Zverev, a record crowd for a tennis match, making it more like a 'football' match. One of the infamous segments of the documentary comes in Bogota when a curfew was imposed by the government due to massive riots, moments before Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev were set to take on each other. The footage shows Federer walking back to his locker room where he broke down in tears and was hugged by Alexander Zverev.

ALSO READ | Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are interesting players, not interesting coaches: Caujolle

Federer said that they were having a blast on the court, but then everything started to go haywire. He said he was thinking if that was the best scenario because people needed to get home and be safe and that is when he knew they should not play. He added that it was a stressful time for everybody.

Roger Federer tweets on promising to return to Colombia

ALSO READ | Roger Federer dismisses retirement rumours by drawing a pregnant woman analogy

The Swiss veteran said that he had a bit of a breakdown as it was not going to be the dream match it was supposed to have been and he could see it crumbling in the end. He added that he was emotionally wasted when he came back to the locker room. On his 5-country tour to Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico, Federer said that the trip was unbelievable because each step along the way fans had expressed their love of the sport and appreciation for the experience.

ALSO READ | Serena Williams fails to pull off Roger Federer's trick shot, watch video