Federer’s Mexico City match breaks record
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A record tennis crowd of more than 42,000 have watched Roger Federer’s exhibition victory over Alexander Zverev in a Mexico City bullring.
The attendance figure smashed an almost decade-old record of 35,681, set in 2010 at an exhibition game between Belgian Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams in Belgium.
Broadcaster ESPN put the number of fans in Mexico City’s Plaza de Toros bullring at 42,517.
Swiss master Federer, 38, overcame his younger German opponent Zverev, 3-6 6-4 6-2.
The match is the fourth stop in a tour of Latin America by the tennis stars and is the first occasion 20-time grand slam winner Federer has been in Mexico.
Federer and 22-year-old Zverev began their series on Tuesday in Santiago, Chile, before playing on Wednesday in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Their stop on Friday in Bogota, Colombia was cancelled due to security concerns over recent riots in the city, with the final leg on Sunday in Quito, Ecuador.
Even before Saturday’s match, Federer had announced his intention to break the world attendance record when he meets Rafael Nadal in February in an exhibition match in South Africa.
That duel will be staged at the Cape Town Stadium, which has a capacity of 55,000.
It will also have the draw of a preceding doubles match in which Federer will partner Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Nadal will play alongside South African comedian Trevor Noah.
