Roger Federer has won 10 NOVENTI OPEN titles. However, he has left his mark in more ways than one in Halle.

In 2012, the Swiss was memorialised on the road leading to the tournament’s main stadium. Officials in Halle, Germany, paid tribute to the superstar by naming that road ‘Roger-Federer-Allee’.

Federer, who owns a 68-7 record at the tournament, called the recognition “an amazing honour” and said he was “extremely humbled”. 

The Swiss has also given back to the community in other ways, visiting a German children’s hospital in 2014.

Federer, who had a living room named after him at the hospital in 2013, said, “I am happy to be back here one year later and to see how things are developing for the children. It is really important to me, as helping children is also a major part of my [Roger Federer] Foundation work.

“I think that is great that the tournament is involved in such an activity for the long term.”

The NOVENTI OPEN, a recipient of an ATP ACES For Charity grant in 2012, donated €10,000 for a kitchen to be built in the ‘Roger Federer Living Room’.
The children’s cancer clinic had treatment rooms named after tennis players Michael Kohlmann, Alexander Waske, Mischa Zverev and Marco Chiudinelli, who also made visits.

Kyle Edmund owns two ATP Tour titles and reached a career-high No. 14 in the FedEx ATP Rankings in October 2018.

ATPTour.com looks at five things you should know about the 25-year-old.

1) His Best Season Came In 2018
From start to finish, Edmund’s 2018 ATP Tour season was a story of success. Following a quarter-final run in Brisbane, the 6’2” right-hander beat Kevin Anderson and Grigor Dimitrov en route to his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open. On clay, Edmund reached his first ATP Tour final in Marrakech. In Madrid, he beat Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic and David Goffin in consecutive matches to reach his maiden ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.

Edmund also produced an impressive run of results at the end of the year, reaching the semi-finals in Beijing and the quarter-finals in Shanghai. In his next event, the European Open in Antwerp, the 23-year-old beat 2016 champion Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils in back-to-back matches to claim his first ATP Tour crown.

Edmund finished 2018 at a career-high World No. 14 with a 37-21 record.

2) He Loves ‘Anything With An Engine’
When Edmund isn’t competing on the ATP Tour, you may find him behind the wheel. Over the past decade, the 2018 Australian Open semi-finalist has developed a huge passion for motorsports. In fact, when Edmund ends his tennis career, he has his sights set on becoming a racing driver.

“In England, you can actually buy a car and then you are basically entered into a series around England which is 15 races [with] one race each weekend. You don’t have to be a professional driver,” said Edmund.

“It is just people who are lucky enough to have the money to buy the car that comes with all the equipment. The mechanics are at the event and you get to race. When I’m finished, I think that will be something I’m really interested in.”

3) He Is The Reigning New York Open Champion
Edmund doubled his ATP Tour trophy tally at this year’s New York Open. Sixteen months after his title run in Antwerp, the Yorkshireman dropped just one set in five matches at the ATP 250 event. Edmund survived a third-set tie-break during his quarter-final against Soonwoo Kwon before straight-sets victories against Miomir Kecmanovic and Andreas Seppi.

”There’s a lot hard work throughout the year, a lot of ups and downs that you don’t see behind the scenes. To win this title means a lot to me,” Edmund said.

4) He Enjoys Spending Time In The Kitchen
Edmund cooks two or three times a week when training at home and, occasionally, he enters the kitchen in tournament weeks. During last year’s grass-court season, the Brit treated one of his friends to his signature dish: chicken orzo.

“During Wimbledon, I always stay with a mate from Yorkshire, where I grew up. He always comes down during Queen’s [Club] and Wimbledon, and I cooked one day,” said Edmund.

“I made this chicken orzo dish, chopped some chicken breasts, some vegetables. It’s a soupy chicken orzo. It’s pretty healthy. I put as much vegetables in it as I could. It’s very easy to make. You just put it in and let it cook, simmer. I like to cook it because it’s the easiest one. People give me compliments.”

5) He Supports Liverpool Football Club
Edmund is a keen supporter of Liverpool Football Club, who are currently on top of the Premier League in England. The Brit has admitted that he gets more nervous watching his favourite team than he does when playing matches on the ATP Tour.

Ahead of last year’s Fever-Tree Championships, Edmund visited a local pub in London to watch his team win its sixth Champions League title. Only Real Madrid and AC Milan have won the European club competition on more occasions.

“From being very young I just loved the kit, the crowd, the atmosphere. I had Liverpool bed sheets, curtains, everything. I would watch them whenever I could,” said Edmund.

Editor’s Note: Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien waited almost two months before meeting his baby daughter in Paraguay. He blogged about the experience for ATPTour.com during the agonising wait. The image above with his wife and daughter was provided to us on 20 June, four days after the family came together for the first time.

Because of COVID-19 travel restrictions, I haven’t been able to see my wife, Camila, since March, or our newborn daughter, Mila, who was born on 25 April. But at long last, I’ll soon get to see Camila and hold my daughter for the first time.

We had to appeal through the Bolivian Foreign Ministry and the Paraguayan government agreed to let me in since Camila is from there and our marriage took place in Paraguay. I’ll travel from my hometown of Trinidad to Santa Cruz and then to Paraguay. I’ll first have to be in quarantine for two weeks, but it’ll be an incredible thing to then be able to see my daughter.

These past few weeks have had so many emotions. It’s a new stage in our lives. Being able to simply see my baby on camera gives me enormous happiness and I can only imagine what it will be like when I have her in my arms.

This all began in March when I was at Indian Wells. We trained on the day that we arrived, which was also the day that the event was cancelled due to COVID-19. We spent a few more days waiting there to see if it was possible to play another event, either the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Miami or some ATP Challenger Tour events. Once it became clear this wouldn’t be possible, my team and I got on a plane to Buenos Aires. I’m based there along with my team and we thought about continuing to train, but never imagined this decision would be so important.

Four days later, the borders in Argentina were closed and I was no longer able to return to Paraguay to be with Camila. The borders in Paraguay were also closed. The only place that I could still go was Bolivia, so I decided to travel there and be with my family. Three months have passed since then and it remains difficult, but I continue to stay positive.

My emotions have been a rollercoaster. There are days that I am well and other days that are bad. The current situation has created more anxiety for me and a greater urge to leave the house, but I’ve accepted that I can’t do anything to change what is happening.

I’ve not been able to play tennis but have continued my training, although the motivation isn’t there on some days. I’ve set up a small gym at home and do two fitness sessions per day that my trainer sends me. The morning session focusses on strength and the afternoon session focusses more on cardio. I’m treating this almost like a preseason and trying to improve.

My family has also kept me in very high spirits. Sharing time with them after so long has been unique. I haven’t been with my family and in my house for more than a week at a time in at least 10 years. My brother, who lives in the United States, was also able to come home. It was very nice being together, but also strange, like going back in time.

Camila has also had good and bad days during this time, so it pains me to know that I can’t be there. She thought that raising a baby in this situation would be tough, but she adapted very quickly and quite well. We’re also lucky that Mila sleeps a lot and hasn’t gotten sick yet.

I have already prepared myself mentally for changing diapers and not sleeping much when I arrive home, but the most difficult stages of a new baby have already passed. It’s like I’ve arrived in the fifth set! Camila has endured the hardest parts and I’m very proud of her. We have video calls three or four times every day and she’s always sending photos of Mila, even if the baby is just sleeping.

Camila used to play professional tennis and we met because of the sport, so it will always be part of our lives, but I’ll definitely see things differently when the Tour resumes. Although I’m now having the best results of my career, nothing compares to being a parent.

Mila’s arrival puts everything else in the background. It’s the biggest trophy I could win. My family is a real success and I don’t need anything else if they’re stable, healthy, and living in harmony. We have achieved that and Mila is the icing on the cake.

As told to Marcos Zugasti