New Delhi: The name itself is enough to torment any opponent. But when the seven-time Wimbledon champion took on Alexandr Dolgopolov in the first round of Wimbledon 2017, the Ukrainian could do was retire, in the second set thus leaving the Swiss maestro short of match practice for the next round.


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But during that 44-minute long outing, Federer completed 10,000th ace of his professional career. Dolgopolov failed to play a cross-court delivery from the 35-year-old living legend in the eighth game of the first set; but a ball boy by the name of Haris Khan was lucky enough to retrieve the ball.


The All England Club, on it's official Wimbledon Facebook page, shared a re-enactment video of the episode, featuring both the protagonists – the server and the retriever. The post has since became a huge hit.


Watch the video here:



One moment in the video saw Federer asking, rather, requesting the ball ball to return the historic ball.


Moments later, the maestro did reveal that he will be auctioning the ball for a charity. Yes, such moments come and go in the lives of superstars, but for a humble ball boy, it was indeed a moment to cherish.


On Wednesday, Federer defeated big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic in straight sets to make a record 12th semis in the hallow grounds at SW19.


With other title contenders — defending champion Andy Murray, three-time winner Novak Djokovic, his eternal rival Rafael Nadal and other favourite Stan Wawrinka – already out of the tournament, this could well be Federer's perfect chance to make it no. 19 in Major counts.