Eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer left his fans intrigued when he revealed on Saturday that he has decided to rename his trophy ‘Arthur.’
On Twitter the 35-year-old posted a picture of the trophy, which is 18.5 inches in height and 7.5 inches in diameter. Along with the picture, he wrote the caption ‘nice having Arthur at the Diner table.’ In a following Tweet, he then asked fans to guess why he has chosen that name.
Nice having Arthur 🏆at the dinner table pic.twitter.com/WmQuvhpBeb
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) 29 July 2017
Amongst the responses were some suggesting that it was in tribute to former champion Arthur Ashe. WTA Insider’s Courtney Nguyen guessed it was because he has a childhood sled named Arthur.
Amid the many theories, Federer later confirmed that it is named in tribute to 1908 Wimbledon winner Arthur Gore. On social media he wrote the date as (19)0(8), representing his recent achievement. Earlier this month, Federer won a record eighth Wimbledon trophy and his 19th grand slam major overall.
British player Gore won a total of three Wimbledon titles during his career as well as a gold medal at the 1908 Olympic Games. In 1909 he won the SW19 title at the age of 41 and is still the oldest men’s champion at Wimbledon. Federer is the oldest in the Open Era.
Next month, Federer will be bidding to win his 20th major title at the US Open and his third of the season. Leading up to the event he is only scheduled to participate at the Cincinnati Masters, which will get underway on August 14th.
Speaking recently about the possibility of winning the US Open, Federer described the prospect as a ‘joke’ following his stellar comeback. Last year the Swiss player missed six months of the tour due to a knee injury.
“That would be a joke, if I won three slams this year out of nowhere.” He told CNN Open Court. “I know if I stay in shape there are chances for me to do well at the US Open, but to win it? Yeah, at some stage I almost feel like I have to be realistic.”
“I am not 25 anymore. I’m not sure I can win three slams in one year. Winning two is already pretty crazy and plenty good enough for me.” He added.
At third in the world, Federer enters the North American swing with four titles to his name this year. Overall, he has won 31 out of 33 matches played in 2017. In the two matches he lost, he had match point opportunities in both of those.
