Federer breaks the internet after becoming first person to receive historic honour
Iconic tennis legend Roger Federer, 38, has made history and become the first living man in Switzerland to be recognised with a commemorative coin.
The 20-time grand slam winner has now been honoured with the historical achievement in his home country, which he says is an “incredible honour and privilege”.
Thank you Switzerland🇨🇭and Swissmint for this incredible honour and privilege. 🙏#DankeSchweiz#MerciLaSuisse#GrazieSvizzera#GraziaSvizra pic.twitter.com/gNs6qYjOh6
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) 2 December 2019
The Federal Swiss Mint announced that he would be on the 20-franc coin, which shows Federer lining up his iconic backhand.
“The Federal Mint Swissmint is honouring Roger Federer and, for the first time in its history, dedicating a Swiss commemorative coin to a living person,” the website read.
The demand for the coin, which was released on the 2nd of December, broke the website.
“We had 2.5 million clicks. It was too much for the shop to handle,” said Swissmint CEO Marius Haldimann to ATP Tour.
“We expected and planned for high demand, but we never imagined it would be this big. When Roger posted a link on his social media channels the website immediately had problems due to all the traffic. Some fans could access the shop but could not finish the order. Others could not get onto the website.”
Out of the 35,000 20-franc silver coins that were offered in the pre-sale window, 15,000 have been ordered. The remaining 20,000 coins are expected to sell quickly once the Mint has recovered from the dramatic spike in traffic.
Another 40,000 coins will be released in May, when a 50-franc gold coin will be released.
Federer is currently the oldest person to finish a season as the World No 3 at the age of 38.