Prestige Memorabilia auction house will auction off the racket used by
Roger Federer in 2011, the one he used to reach the final of the
French Open for the last time. Along the way, the Swiss ended
Novak Djokovic's historic streak of 43 consecutive victories but ended up as the runner-up against Rafael Nadal, who claimed his sixth
Roland Garros title.
The racket used by the 20-times Grand Slam champion in Paris was acquired by the Roger Federer Foundation and comes with Solution Photomatch certification. Prestige Memorabilia predicts that the auction could far exceed $50,000 and set a record for the sale of a Federer racket.
Federer's dramatic victory: A retrospective of his 2011 French Open triumph against Djokovic
Djokovic's incredible streak began in late 2010 with two consecutive victories against French players
Gilles Simon and
Gael Monfils in the Davis Cup. In Nole's legendary 2011 season, he added another 41 wins on the Tour, claiming seven consecutive titles:
Australian Open, Dubai,
Indian Wells,
Miami Open, Belgrade,
Madrid Open, and
Rome Open.
Along the way, he defeated Nadal four times, all in finals, Federer three times (once in a final), and
Andy Murray twice (once in a final).
On the other hand, Federer began 2011 as the world No. 2 behind Nadal and with a title at the ATP 250 Doha Open against Nikolay Davydenko. The Swiss had a record of 33-7 before facing Nole and secured one of the most dramatic victories of his career in the French Open semifinals, winning 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5).
Djokovic leads the head-to-head against Federer by 27-23.
Unfortunately for Federer, he couldn't prevail in the final against the five-times champion Rafael Nadal, who claimed the title with a score of 7-5, 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-1.
In 2011, Federer ended with a season record of 64-12 (84.2%) and as the world No. 3 behind Djokovic and Nadal. The Swiss Maestro added four titles to his collection: Doha, Basel Open, Paris-Masters, and the
ATP Finals. You can find the auction announcement here:
"Prestige
Memorabilia announces Roger Federer's racket from his legendary run at the
Roland Garros 2011. The auction is open from May 14th and will close on June
2nd. At the 2011 Roland Garros, in a highly anticipated semifinal, Federer
halted Djokovic's historic 43-match winning streak in what is considered the
best clay-court match of his career. In the final, Federer faced Nadal in their
25th career duel. Federer pushed Nadal to the limit in a four-set battle.
The
tournament marked the last French Open final of his career and the racket is
expected to fetch $50,000. It was at this tournament that Federer shocked the
world by ending Novak Djokovic's historic 43-match winning streak, then facing
Rafael Nadal in the dramatic final.
The racket
is acquired by the Roger Federer Foundation and the coveted Solution Photomatch
certification accompanies the racket. The resolution managed to forensically
prove that Federer used the racket in the final. Further highlighting the
racket's rarity, it is the first Federer racket with photographic graphics to
be auctioned. Federer's racket was custom made for him and he even signed it."