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LOS ANGELES, April 27, 2017 – Tennis Channel will be live in Seattle on Saturday, April 29, at 9 p.m. ET, with Roger Federer’s first match in the city during an exhibition that will feature American star John Isner and Microsoft founder, philanthropist and Seattle resident Bill Gates. The Match for Africa 4 charity exhibition will include singles and doubles competition, a kickoff celebration and fundraising activity, the proceeds of which will benefit the Roger Federer Charitable Fund/Roger Federer Foundation, which promote children living in poverty in Africa.
The event will feature a three-set match between Federer and former World No. 9 John Isner. This will mark Federer’s first time playing tennis in Seattle, a city that has not held a men’s professional tournament since 1973. As part of the exhibition, Federer and Bill Gates will team up to take on Isner and lead guitarist Mike McCready of Seattle band Pearl Jam in a one-set doubles match.
Tennis Channel’s Mary Carillo will call the action from Seattle’s Key Arena and be joined by Federer’s former coach Paul Annacone (@paul_annacone) and former professional player Mark Knowles (@knowlzee10s) as analysts.
Tennis.com – part of Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Tennis Channel family – will stream the opening ceremonies beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET, followed by the entire event live. Tennis Channel’s telecast will begin with the doubles match featuring Federer and Gates against Isner and McCready at 9 p.m. ET. Following the conclusion of the doubles match there will be three-set singles match between Federer and Isner.
This is the foundation’s fourth Match for Africa and the first to be located outside of Zurich, Switzerland. Previous installments have featured star players like Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka and, most recently, World No. 1 Andy Murray. Proceeds go to the Roger Federer Foundation, which received $1.4 million from The Match for Africa 3 earlier this month. |
