As Roger Federer starts to play for his seventh Wimbledon title this monday on June 21, there seems to be something more at stake, than “just the usual”. It is especially so for UK-based charity Oxfam, that may be granted some 100,000 GBP ($148,000), in case Federer collects his seventh title.
The amazing stake is a result of a Hollywood-like will of a late fan of the swiss Tennis player, Mr. Nicholas Newlife. Newlife from Oxfordshire’s Kidlington bet 1,520GBP ($2,255) with William Hill in August 2003, saying that Federer will win seven Wimbledons before the year 2020. The odds for this at Hill were 66/1. Since then, Roger Federer has won six Wimbledon titles (the odds of him winning his seventh title sharply decreased to 6/4, despite being recently overtaken on the world ranking of professional tennis players by Rafael Nadal, after the spaniard won the Roland Garros tournament), and his seventh might be on its way in the upcoming days. Not only would this break the alltime record of Pete Sampras, but would result a payout of 101,840 GBP to the benefit of Oxfam charity.
Mr. Newlife died last February, aged 69, and left his entire estate to Oxfam. The unusual heritage included the betting slips for various cricket and tennis wagers.
“Mr Newlife made arrangements in his will to pass any profit from his bet on to his favored charity, Oxfam – a unique eventuality in our experience,” said Hill’s spokesman Graham Sharpe talking to AFP news agency.
“We will, of course, be handing the profits from his far-sighted wager to them just as soon as Federer holds the trophy aloft for a seventh time.
“In the event that he fails to win this year – and he is 6/4 favourite to do so – the bet does not run out until 2019,” Sharpe added.
Federer will start out this year’s Wimbledon tour by meeting Alejandro Falla from Columbia. Theoretically he should not be a problem, but he will be followed by more advanced counterparts, such as Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic and former Wimbledon-title holder Lleyton Hewitt. If Federer gets past all of them (as expected), he is supposed to meet World #1 Rafael Nadal in the final of the tournament. The guys at Oxfam, surely, will have their fingers crossed for Federer.
The Oxfam aid charity is an alliance of 14 different international organizations worldwide, fighting poverty, injustice, and seeking an impact on local communities in need. The umbrella organization covers some 3,000 local organizations, focusing their efforts on Development, Emergencies, Campaigning, Advocacy and Policy Research.
