Roger Federer keeps his promise, roof-top tennis girls arrive at Rafael Nadal’s academy and meet the Spaniard

Roger Federer took social media by storm last year when he played roof-top tennis with a couple of budding tennis players. On that day, the Swiss promised to send both the girls – Vittoria Olivieri (14) and Carola Pessina (12) – to Rafael Nadal’s academy in Manacor, given their immense love and passion towards the sport.

“Ciao Carola and Vittoria, it’s Roger here,” Roger Federer had said. “The surprises are not over yet. I happen to know a really good summer camp that would be perfect for you two girls. I’ve spoken to the Rafa Nadal Academy and Barilla and I would like to send you there. So why don’t you start packing.”

Federer and his sponsors, Barilla, have kept their promise a year down the line. The two girls have arrived at Rafael Nadal’s academy, and they recently posed alongside none other than the Spaniard himself.

Federer even took to Twitter to acknowledge the way Nadal welcomed the two girls. He wrote “Mazie Grille”, and tagged both Nadal’s academy and Barilla.

The 40-year-old clearly meant “Grazie Mille”, which means “thank you very much” in Italian. This was seemingly a deliberate mistake on Federer’s part; he has repeated it numerous times following his first faux pas during the 2019 Italian Open.

After pulling out of the tournament in Rome two years ago, the Swiss had accidentally written “Mazie Grille” instead of the correct term. Since then, Federer has trolled himself with the same error on quite a few occasions.

Watch: Roger Federer playing tennis with the roof-top girls in August last year

Roger Federer paid a surprise visit to Vittoria Olivieri and Carola Pessina last year, after their roof-top tennis match during the peak of the pandemic captured the attention of thousands around the globe. Carola and Vittoria had famously taken to their roofs to play tennis, as the strict quarantine rules in Italy meant that they had no other place to play.

Roger Federer, supported by sponsor Barilla, subsequently stunned the girls by visiting their town, Liguria. Here is the video, where we can see how the Swiss surprised the young duo:

The girls were understandably awe-struck when Federer appeared in front of them. One of them even joked she was about to faint after seeing her idol in the flesh.

“We cannot believe it,” the girls said. “Federer is on our rooftop. He is playing tennis with us. It’s incredible, I’m going to faint. Grandma! Federer is on our roof. The champion.”

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You can watch the girls playing tennis on their roof for the first time (in April 2020) in the tweet embedded below. Such was the popularity of their act that even the official handle of ATP tweeted the clip.