Roger Federer childhood friend given place in Swiss Indoors draw... Federer is delighted
ROGER FEDERER is delighted ahead of the Swiss Indoors - because his childhood friend Marco Chiudinelli has been given a spot in the draw.
Chiudinelli and Federer played squash, table tennis and football together when they were kids before both became tennis pros.
While Roger Federer has gone on to become a 19-time Grand Slam champion, Chiudinelli has had a somewhat modest career.
He has won 10 ATP Challenger singles titles - the latest came in Wroclaw last year - but he has never won a main tour tournament.
Chiudinelli, 36, did win the Davis Cup with Switzerland in 2014, however - the highlight of his 17-year career.
Basel ❤️
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 20, 2017
So happy to be back in ������������
Here with my man the MC @mchiudinelli33 pic.twitter.com/mU6U4aPGZC
The two old mates linked up with one another ahead of the Basel tournament, with the full draw starting on Monday.
Chiudinelli, like Federer, grew up in Basel and has been handed a wildcard for the tournament.
Federer has posted a picture of the pair on Twitter and wrote: "Basel. So happy to be back in Switzerland. Here with my man the MC @mchiudinelli33."
Federer is the top seed for the tournament, with Marin Cilic, David Goffin and Juan Martin del Potro all eyeing the title.
Roger Federer is back in his hometown Basel this week
Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov, meanwhile, headline the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, which begins on Monday.
Federer goes into the tournament 1,960 points behind Rafael Nadal in the ATP rankings.
Nadal has had to withdraw with a knee injury meaning a Federer victory here would cut the gap to 1,460 points in the race to finish the year end no.1.
SWISS MASTERS DRAW: FEDERER GIVEN TOUGH START IN BASEL
Federer has been handed a tough draw in the first round of the Swiss Indoors after he was paired with American wildcard Frances Tiafoe.
Dangerous Tiafoe, 19, took Federer to five sets at the US Open in August before falling to defeat.
He is in the same side of the draw as David Goffin and Jack Sock, while Juan Martin del Potro is in the bottom half.