Roger Federer's record-breaking Latin American Tour comes to ESPN on Tuesday.
ESPN will bring fans behind the scenes of Federer's recent five-exhibition tour vs. Alexander Zverev with Roger Federer: Everywhere is Home. The program airs on Tuesday, December 17th, at 8 p.m. Eastern and aims to provide "unprecedented access to the 38-year-all tennis legend" according to ESPN.
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ESPN's Tom Rinaldi hosts the half-hour show, travelling through Latin America with the superstar and his entourage, and conducting multiple interviews during the very intense week-long journey in November.
The show captures many memorable moments on and off the court during that week.
Grand Slam king Federer and Zverev shattered the record for largest attendance at a single tennis match in history, when 42,517 delirious fans watched the pair tangle in an immense bull fighting stadium in Mexico City.
Other sold-out, thoroughly festive exhibitions were played in Chile, Argentina and Ecuador. Federer and his team even received a very direct taste of the political unrest currently troubling the region when a match in Bogota, Colombia was abruptly called off just as it was starting, due to a suddenly-imposed 8 p.m. government curfew designed to control brewing street riots.
Reflecting on the journey, Federer himself was enchanted and humbled by the experience, and the adoring reception he received everywhere he traveled.
"It was an unbelievable and amazing trip, each step along the way as the fans expressed their love of the sport and appreciation for the experience," said the 38-year-old Swiss superstar. "There were so many highlights, it was truly a magical adventure and a blast as well."
ESPN's Rinaldi said traveling with Federer on the trip gave him a greater understanding of the eight-time Wimbledon winner's global appeal.
“Before this trip, I’d interviewed Federer dozens of times, but on this trip, in planes, locker rooms and hotel suites, and through police motorcades, my understanding of him was almost completely recast," Rinaldi said. "The reach of his fame, the reserves of his energy, the connection he has with fans – and the reservoirs of good will he engenders – all were unlike anything I’d ever witnessed.
"More than once, fans wept seeing him. At the start of the tour, we asked him why he wanted to do this, at 38 years old and after a long, exhausting season. ‘Motivation,’ was the heart of his answer.
“At the end of the tour, after his fourth straight night with less than four hours sleep, having played his last two matches at altitudes above 7,000 and 9,000 feet, respectively, he was still the most energetic on his entire team. And more motivated than when he’d started.”
Roger Federer: Everywhere is Home was produced in collaboration with Federer's Team 8 management firm.
Photo credit: Christopher Levy