Remember back in August when a cancer-survivor fan's touching story elevated tennis great Roger Federer to an even higher level of sainthood in the eyes of sports fans everywhere?
Not that his reputation needed any more burnishing, but an impromptu Q-and-A he held with fans on Twitter this week further boosts Federer's good guy credentials and gives the rest of us a charming window into the mind of one of the world's best athletes and most solid characters.
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Federer announced the conversation to his followers about an hour and a half before he started answering questions:
Heading to practice. Will have some time after to do a Q&A on twitter.. been awhile since the last one! Talk to you in a few hours #AskRF
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
Before things got started, he even tweeted a shot referencing Allen Iverson's famous rant about practice (not a game; practice):
We talking about practice.... Not the game. #practice pic.twitter.com/SpZzmBaQNx
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
Then things moved on to more important topics.
For example, Fed's ideal mixed doubles partner:
. @AliThamir89 it'd be fun to play with @serenawilliams #AskRF
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
And his favorite Serie A team (shouts out to Mario Balotelli):
.@LuigiSPCrew I've always liked @OfficialASRoma #askRF
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
If you've ever wondered about the most beautiful places Fed has been, wonder no more:
.@AlanFilaferro iguazu falls and south africa as a whole, maldives, swiss alps #askRF
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
He's also interested in music:
.@momentary_mind I used to take piano lessons and today would love to play the guitar or the saxophone #askrf
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
And here are his travel dreams:
. @NW_Cross Cambodia, Vietnam, Botswana, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Norway, Hungary and plenty more #askrf
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
His 4-year-old twins are apparently not great tennis understudies yet:
.@SamLouiseG I have but they don't listen to me! #BadCoach #askrf
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
He's got solid cinematic taste:
. @R0gerFedererFan Gladiator, Goodwill Hunting, Bond Movies, The Dark Knight, Inception and plenty more #askrf
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
But doesn't get to spend so much time with the boob tube these days:
.@logelfedelel I loved watching LOST, Prison Break, Entourage and Heroes. And then I had kids. #cyaTV #askRF
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
Then Fed called the interview session off ...
Sorry guys.. gotta run now. This was really fun. I promise i'll do #AskRF again sometime. You guys are the best.
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
... but he couldn't stay away!
I'm BACK. I couldn't get enough of you guys. Shall we do some more #AskRF?
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
The questions got a little more personal:
. @einlele I sort of write half cursive half not, which is kind of awkward.
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
This fan speaks for many of us. She didn't get an answer from Fed, but she did get a retweet:
@rogerfederer can we be best friends? #AskRF
— Laura Robson (@laurarobson5) October 8, 2013
Then Fed had to go—for real this time. But it looks like he's up for more in the near future:
Alright guys. Off to dinner. #AskRF round 2 was great again. Time to focus on tennis. Will do this again sometime. Thanks!
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 8, 2013
Image: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images