Roger Federer passes Olympic flag bearer duties to fellow Swiss countryman

World number one tennis player Roger Federer will not be the flag bearer of Switzerland’s contingent at the opening ceremony of London Olympics as the honour has been given to his fellow tennis player and close friend Stanislas Wawrinka.


Federer was offered to carry his country’s flag after he won the Wimbledon Championships and rose to the top of the world tennis rankings once again but the Swiss Maestro declined the offer, saying that he had already got this honour twice and would like someone else to have it this time.


The 17-time Grand Slam winner suggested Switzerland’s Olympic Committee to appoint Wawrinka as the flag bearer, with whom he had won the Gold Medal in the doubles category at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.


After getting the confirmation of being the flag bearer of Switzerland’s contingent, Wawrinka tweeted, “Thank you for giving me the honour of carrying the Swiss flag. It’s a moment of immense pride for me.”


Wawrinka is currently at the 26th position in ATP Rankings. The Swiss number two achieved his highest career ranking of number nine back in 2008.


The 27-year-old has won three titles in his career so far, with the biggest being the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event at Internazionali BNL d’Italia in 2008. His noticeable Grand Slam performances are reaching the quarter-finals at the 2010 US Open and 2011 Australian Open.


Tennis players have beaten athletes from all sports in the competition of carrying flag of their country at the London Olympics. Some of the most prominent players who will carry their country’s flag on the Olympics opening ceremony are the world number two men’s player Novak Djokovic of Serbia, world number two women’s player Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and number three Maria Sharapova of Russia.


2008 men’s Gold Medallist Rafael Nadal was named to be Spain’s flag bearer but he was forced to withdraw from the Games with knee injury.


stevegtennis.com


Well that's disappointing but understandable, nice of Roger to share the honor.