"His mom Lynette is South African," Godsick said, adding, "Roger was exposed to cricket when he was young, thanks to his coach Peter Carter, who was Aussie, and then Tony Roche. On Tour when I walk into his room, I often find him engrossed in a game of cricket."
The American super agent, who nudged the legend into signing the deal with Mahesh Bhupathi's International Premier Tennis League that will bring the 33-year-old to India in December, said Federer, who is known to make friendships across sports, is keen on meeting up with Sachin Tendulkar during his three-day visit.
"Roger won't be travelling much in India this time. He will not be visiting with his family, but he will want to take in as much as he can," Godsick said, adding the trip had come bang in the middle of the 17-time Grand Slam champion's pre-2015 training period. "He would definitely like to meet Sachin again. They've had tea with on a couple of occasions at Wimbledon."
From the moment Indian doubles ace Bhupathi made the call to Godsick, during the US Open in New York in late August, it took no more than a week for the Indian to wrap up the deal with Federer which in the world of business is a nanosecond.
"I reminded Roger that it was his dream to play in India when he was still competitive as a large portion of his fan base is Indian. He has always felt that his fans in India deserved to see him play at his best," said Godsick, who will also make the December trip to India.
Federer, father of four, who has picked up his play again this year, will turn out for Indian Aces, the lone Indian outfit in Bhupathi's pan-Asian, inter-city league.
The Swiss world number three will have American legend Pete Sampras, Frenchman Gael Monfils, Serb Ana Ivanovic and Indians Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza as teammates. Federer is slated to blitz the capital between December 6 and 8.
Date: 1st October 2014, Source: Times of India
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