Roger Federer spends 24 hours in Paris with Uniqlo
The video series “24 Hours with Roger” follows the beloved Swiss around the world, and this time, he's headed to the City of Love.
Roger Federer isn’t done traveling the world just yet.
He’s partnered with Uniqlo to visit underground places and undiscovered people around the globe in the video series, 24 hours with Roger. The series has already seen the 20-time Grand Slam champion visit some world's most iconic cities, from Tokyo and Shanghai to London and New York City.
Now, while his former peers competed at the Olympics, he added Paris. Three recently-released episodes from the City of Love chronicle Federer's journey through the Palais Garnier and Fête le Mur, and a private recording session with DJ Bob Sinclar.
Palais Garnier
Federer meets with dance director José Martinez and étoile Léonore Baulac for an immersive experience behind the Opera’s “center court."
They discover that ballet and tennis are in fact more similar than meets the eye. Baulac notices Federer’s natural coupé when he shadows his groundstrokes, and attempts her own technique using a chassé.
Fête le Mur
Founded by 1983 Roland Garros champion Yannick Noah, Fête le Mur enables children in unlikely communities to play tennis.
“The idea of tennis runs way deeper here than in our world where it’s always about how can I improve, how can I be the next best thing,” Federer says. “Tennis is almost a way of life for them.”
Meeting with three local players, Federer walks them through groundstrokes and serves before sitting down and hearing their stories. During the serve demonstration, one of the girls humorously calls out “Not bad!” to the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
DJ Bob Sinclar
Federer’s friend just so happens to be internationally-renowned DJ Bob Sinclar, who takes this opportunity to produce a “Roger mix” with the Swiss himself.
Sinclar wanted to journey back to championship point at Roland Garros 2009, and record what Federer was thinking.
“I dream to be in your head when you hit the ball,” Sinclar said.
After all, he was in the crowd that day.
The two recorded Federer’s voice and overlayed it with an existing track, then performed the newly produced “Save Our Soul (Roger mix)” to a visualized “minimum 20,000” people in the studio. Federer also learns the “French Touch": a trick that the DJ made famous for keeping the crowd engaged.
Watch Federer in Paris, shop the Uniqlo collection that he wears, and get lost in the moment. Visit Uniqlo or YouTube for more episodes from the series.