GENEVA – Roger Federer may have seen his dreams of Olympic gold dashed this week, but he can celebrate that t-shirts, racquets, and shoes from his trophy-laden tennis career proved a treasure trove at auction. <\/P>
The sports legend saw every single item that went under the hammer at a two-phased Christie’s auction sold, raking in $4.7 million. <\/P>
The combined proceeds from an online and a live auction — over three times more than his 1-million target — will go to the Roger Federer Foundation, which supports educational projects in southern Africa and his native Switzerland. <\/P>
“I am overwhelmed by the generosity and enthusiasm of the support from around the world,” Federer said in a statement. <\/P>
The auction of items the 20-time Grand Slam winner’s career happened in two phases. <\/P>
A live sale on June 23 in London focused on Federer’s career at the four Grand Slams: Wimbledon and the Australian, French and US Opens. <\/P>
The subsequent online sale from June 23 to July 14 featured 300 lots from other tournaments spanning 21 years — dating back to his first Olympics appearance at the Sydney 2000 Games, aged just 19. <\/P>
The items sold online found buyers from 44 countries and across six continents, Christie’s said. <\/P>
The highlight of the online sale was a set of three rackets used at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, which sold for $224,898 — more than 23 times above their estimate of nearly $10,000-$14,000. <\/P>
“The prices achieved have been unbelievable,” Federer said. <\/P>
“We started collecting items which accompanied me on court because we thought that perhaps one day, we could do something meaningful with them,” he said. <\/P>
He said he and his wife, Mirka, were “humbled to see that the decision we made will make a profound difference to so many children.” <\/P>
The Roger Federer collection was the most important single-owner collection of sporting memorabilia ever to come to market, a Christie’s representative told AFP prior to the auction. <\/P>
Federer, who turns 40 on August 8, had been hoping to secure his first Olympic singles gold medal at the upcoming Tokyo Games, but announced Tuesday he had withdrawn after a “setback” in his recovery from a knee injury. <\/P>
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Source: Voice of America<\/P>
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