Nicolas Lapentti organizing exibition match with Federer in Quito, Ecuador.

"They told me about the possibility and I was excited about doing it, but the cost of the event was complicated. Getting back to Ecuador I met the people who were close to me and they were telling me I was crazy," he said, "That achieving it was impossible. I met the companies and they were open to doing it. They understood the importance of the event and that it would be broadcasted in the country and around the world."

That opened up the opportunity to go on: "I spoke with people who manage Federer. Luckily, at that moment they were working on his schedule for South America. Then they sent us the video where they said hi to us."

Lapentii played Federer when he was still a Pro and the Swiss youngster came on to the scene: "I know him well. Since he was a kid, at 16 and 17 years you could see he would become a great tennis player. He won a junior Wimbledon, but everyone was complaining about his mentality."

"He made a very big [attitude] change. He switched from breaking rackets and shouting on the court to being a person with an impressive behaviour. I played doubles against him in 2000 when he was still nervous," he elaborated about their professional encounter(s).

Federer now plays the Basel Indoors before going to London for the ATP Masters. In between the two tournaments, the option to play the Paris Masters is still undecided.

https://twitter.com/nicolapentti/status/1180293064490979333