Roger Federer is one of the all-time great tennis players. But a meeting with a cancer survivor through the Make-A-Wish Foundation shows he could be an even better human being.
Mashable.com was the first to report the story of 17-year-old Beatriz Tinoco, a high school tennis player from Rockville, Md., who survived a battle with cancer from 2011-12.
According to the report, Tinoco became associated with the Make-A-Wish Foundation when she was battling cancer. In a post using TwitLonger, Tinoco explained that the foundation grants wishes to kids, teens and young adults with life-threatening diseases.
Tinoco said she wished in 2012 to meet Federer, who is her idol. She says she waited for more than a year without hearing back and thought she might have to revert to her second or third choice through the foundation.
In June of this year, Tinoco said she was told that ESPN was in town to do a story on high school tennis and was featuring her high school team.
At the end, ESPN showed a team a video of the 2012 Wimbledon men's championship match that Federer won. At the end of it, it cut to a video of Federer telling Tinoco he was inviting her and her family to England this year to Wimbledon.
"Hi Beatriz, I heard you're a big fan of mine, so I'm inviting you with your family to come watch me play at Wimbledon. Go pack your bags, have a safe trip, and I'll see you there," Tinoco wrote that Federer said in his video.
When she arrived at the All England Club, ESPN representatives told her that he might not make it that day because of a scheduling conflict.
"So I wasn't expecting anythint, (sic) just sitting watching some practices and someone calls my name. I turn and it's FREAKING ROGER FEDERER. He comes up, gives me a hug and a kiss and then sits down and starts talking to me very naturally. I was trying hard not to freak out haha. We talked for about 10-15 minutes (which I was told later he wasn't supposed to do. He was just supposed to come and say hi and then go to practice but he's a perfect human being and talked to me for a while!)"
Tinoco said Federer spent two days with her and her family, giving her "backstage" access, signing tennis gear and chatting with her. She said ESPN will broadcast the meeting later this month.
"He stayed a lot more than he had to for sure," she wrote. "But then the people from ESPN tried kinda finishing things up so that he could leave before his manager freaked out. So he went around the table hugging my mom, my dad and my sister, and then it was my turn. He told me I had been through a lot and hugged me really hard and I just started crying so so so much in his shoulder (it was around that time that the picture from my avi was taken haha) He was like "awnn". Then when I let go of him I was still like sobbing and I turned to him and he was kinda tearing up :') I thanked him and then he went."
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