Jesus Aparicio, an avid Roger Federer fan, went into an 11 year coma on December 12, 2004 after getting into a car crash while celebrating his 18th birthday. To give you a little bit of perspective, in 2004, Federer was 23 years old and had only won 4 of his 17 singles titles, Novak Djokovic was 17 years old and had not yet made a Grand Slam appearance, and Rafael Nadal was 18 years old and would not win his first French Open until the next year.
On August 27, 2015, Aparicio woke up from the coma and immediately asked about his favorite tennis player. “When I knew that, at 34 years, he is still playing and is No. 2 in the world, I thought they were kidding me,” Aparicio told Tennis World. “When I heard that he reached 17 Slam titles, I put my hands on my face.”
Aparicio got to watch the world no. 2 play some of his most incredible tennis to date at the 2015 US Open. He witnessed the maestro’s versatile serve, his new SABR tactic, and his quick style of play. He also witnessed the competition that his favorite player is up against now. He watched Djokovic’s superhuman movement, defense and two-handed backhand that ultimately took down the Swiss in the final. He comments, “I was really surprised to see him play well. Djokovic is good.”
Jesus Aparicio still hopes to see Federer play in person before he retires.
