Federer - Nadal 'Match in Africa' sets social media tongues wagging

CAPE TOWN – Not only did the ‘Match in Africa’ exceed its target of raising $1 million for the Roger Federer Foundation by a whopping $3.5 million… it also set a new Guinness World Record by congregating 51,954 souls in attendance at a single tennis match.

The venue: the iconic Cape Town Stadium – host of the annual Cape Town Rugby Sevens – though this time on a blustery, ‘Cape Doctor’ wind-swept Friday night.

Sure, “looks at de scoreboard” a now famous, unnamed Afrikaans rugby commentator once said… in this case Federer beat his friend and rival-on-the-night Rafael Nadal 6-4 3-6 6-3 in an entertaining three-set extravaganza. But on the night, tennis and more importantly, South Africa… amid these local dark, economic and politically volatile days, was the ultimate winner.

This is how social medial responded:

First up, host Roger Federer

had this short post on twitter to say:

🤹‍♂️🥁🚀🏟

Speechless 😶 pic.twitter.com/oI3YSR7eLd

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) February 7, 2020

Comedian and host of the US based Daily Show, Trevor Noah

said:

View this post on Instagram

To say tonight was a dream come true is an understatement. We helped raise over 3 million dollars to help spur education in Africa. We set a world record for the highest attendance for a tennis match and I got to play tennis with two of the greatest players of all time whilst also sharing the court with my friend and one of the greatest minds of all time. And all of this happened in my home country, South Africa. Thank you Roger, Rafa, Bill and every single person who supported this great cause. I have lived one thousand dreams in one night!🙌🏽 #DankieMzansi

A post shared by Trevor Noah(@trevornoah) on Feb 7, 2020 at 3:54pm PST

IOL Sport's Ashfak Mohamed

reported from the post-match presser:

. @RafaelNadal says the @matchinafrica is "one of those days you don't forget" @IOLsport @IOL #MatchInAfrica #MatchForAfrica #Federer #Nadal pic.twitter.com/7pfluNzJFf

— Ashfak Mohamed (@ashfakmohamed) February 7, 2020

IOL Sport scribe Stuart Hess

wrote:

That was awesome last night. All of it. #MatchInAfrica pic.twitter.com/KVsZZ6oOfX

— stuart hess (@shockerhess) February 8, 2020

One more from Trevor Noah

, this time on twitter:

Calm before the storm. #MatchInAfrica @rogerfederer @RafaelNadal @BillGates pic.twitter.com/2sJKSHSMJS

— Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) February 7, 2020

Broadcaster Supersport

posted:

A little SLICE of heaven ↪️🥴↩️ @rogerfederer and @RafaelNadal are putting on a show for the crowd at the Cape Town Stadium with some ridiculous shots, including this fantastic rally that saw the ball moving in all sorts of directions! #MatchInAfrica pic.twitter.com/N16TKC3AbJ

— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) February 7, 2020