Years ago I was told a shocking and fascinating story about a tennis fanatic who had such an extreme devotion to the former goat that the final chapter was a very unhappy and embarrassing ending.
The fan’s name was Zahed and he is from Atlanta. I met this person at the US Open one year because he was a friend of a tennis journalist I’ve been friends with for decades.
The story was the stuff that movies are made of. Zahed was such a huge Federer fan he traveled the world supporting him at tournaments and eventually getting autographs and selfies and some small talk.
My first impression of Zahed was he was a cool guy who just loved Federer and loved traveling to London, New York, China and other ATP tournaments to watch the maestro in person. Sometimes Zahed traveled with his parents. He dressed in the latest RF Nike attire, cap and I noticed, seemed to carry himself with the same Federer demeanor and also seemed to imitate his talking manner and tones like RF.
He also was part of that small posse of Federer fans, remember that woman who used to go to many of his tournaments, who looked just like RF’s mom?
These people were fanatics. They all seemed to worship Federer but there was a spooky element to their presence. They just seemed a little abnormal, weird. I remember Zahed was particularly proud of being photographed by a London newspaper in the crowd with arms straight up in the air, like a mirror of RF himself who had just struck that pose after a thrilling winner. It was a stunning image to see Zahed and RF, arms up high, facing each other, with the same body language. The picture was published on the front page of the newspaper as part of an RF story at ATP World Tour Finals.
Nothing struck me as dangerous or excessively weird about Zahed, he was harmless. I concluded he was a young guy, in his 20s with time and money and he really enjoyed being an RF super fan, and the small celebrity and pride that went along with it.
I have no idea if Zahed had any ulterior motives, if he was passive aggressive ambitiously trying to inveigle his way into being part of the RF team in some way – a reality that many star players have to deal with.
As it would turn out, Zahed was able to get a media credential via our mutual reporter friend, to cover the 2010 Indian Wells tournament. But the thrill of being able to cover a professional tennis tournament as a member of the tennis media would have a sudden, nightmare ending for poor Zahed.
I’m not sure of the details but I was told by the mutual friend that Zahed and RF had some kind of interaction in Indian Wells that freaked RF out to the point that he requested security to revoke Zahed’s credential and he was immediately kicked out of the tournament.
Whatever happened between the two remains a mystery but based on my experience with gentleman Zahed, a kind soul, my guess is it was an overreaction by RF who became very uncomfortable with seeing Zahed gaining closer and closer access. RF simply didn’t want to take any chances and used his clout to get rid of an obsessive fanatic.
The 2010 Indian Wells tournament would also be a disaster for RF. Though he beat Victor Hanescu in his first match 63 67 61, he would end up losing to Marcos Baghdatis 75 57 67, which was the only time RF ever lost to Baghdatis in their eight career ATP matches.
This third-hand, three minute account of the story is based on a 20 minute account from the mutual friend reporter, who was told the story by Zahed fourteen years ago.
I think the story is worth telling now because it shows a darker side of the glamorous side of pro tennis and all the distractions that super champions like RF have to deal with.
It also shows a side of RF that doesn’t quite match up with the role and duty a champion has with the public. Nobody is perfect but RF could have attempted to turn the negative encounter into a positive.
Like this Lennox Lewis story and champion’s obligation to turn a negative into a positive…
story of Lennox. It was at a lunch in Chinatown with Lewis, lawyer Judd Burstein, manager Adrian Ogun and Dubin. “We’re slurping Wan-Tan soup and dipping egg rolls into duck sauce, talking about the differences between American and British fare,” wrote Dubin in Boxing Digest. “Lennox is mid-sentence, mid-dunk, telling us his favorite foods, when a woman walks up to the table and infiltrates our conversation. She bypasses the conventional ‘excuse me’ opting for the more subtle introduction of thrusting pen and torn piece of paper into face. ‘Johnny. J-o-h-n-n-y…make it to Johnny,’ she says. I nearly choke on my food. Judd laughs aloud and Adrian is stunned into silence. Lennox finishes chewing, and then says, ‘I’m sorry ma’am. I usually don’t turn people away, but…’
‘Come on, just sign it. It’ll only take a second.’ I look around for the cameras, because this has to be some sort of prank. One of those shows where they put a celebrity in a compromising situation to see how they’ll react.
‘Excuse me,’ he says, leaning toward her. ‘Did you know that it’s impolite to ask someone to sign an autograph while they’re in the middle of a conversation, or the middle of a meal?’
‘It’ll only take a second.’ I can see this is a lost cause.
She hands him the pen and he smiles. He signs his name – two swooshing L’s and a dot somewhere to the right of the second one. She snatches the piece of paper and rumbles back to her seat. Mumbling ‘thank you’ with her back turned. A real piece of work, this lady.
For the remainder of our meal, Lennox doesn’t utter a word. He pokes at his food a little and doesn’t take another bite. He completely withdraws from the conversation. After fifteen minutes or so pass, I turn to him and ask if everything is all right? He says, Yes, everything is fine. But he excuses himself from the table, walks across the restaurant, and drags a chair from an empty table over to another table where a man and woman are eating lunch. I realize the woman he has joined is the one that had impolitely interrupted our meal just moments before. I turn my head and lean forward in a failed eavesdropping attempt. Before long, he has them both laughing, pounding the table and laughing. When he speaks, they beam like little children might in the presence of Santa Claus. He remains at the table for twenty minutes or so, and, as he gets up to go, the woman rises and gives him a hug. I can read her lips when she says ‘Thank you’, all drawn out and slow, her eyes sinking, in appreciation. He tips his head to her, shakes the man’s hand, and struts back to our table.
‘What’s for dessert? He says as he sits down, and just like that he’s back in the conversation, back to himself. I never ask him what he said to the woman or what compelled him to go over and speak to her after she had been so unequivocally discourteous to him. It is almost as if there is something innate in this man, some divine force that won’t allow him to be associated with a negative situation, no matter that it might be the ill-mannered behavior of others that give rise to it. In some ironic way, he sought to absolve the woman of her own actions by shining his light on her.
“That’s Lennox, that’s definitely Lennox,” says Courtney Shand. “That’s just his attitude. He always knows how to turn a negative situation into a positive.”
Excerpt from my book Heavyweight Armageddon The Tyson vs. Lewis Championship Battle
Lennox Lewis · Marcos Baghdatis · Roger Federer
Cory · August 9, 2024 at 4:46 pm
Great stories. That’s why we tune in here!
Scoop Malinowski · August 9, 2024 at 6:24 pm
Thanks Cory, I wish I recorded my friend telling me all the details, it was a 15 minute story at least. I just asked my friend yesterday if he’s had any contact with Zahed, and he replied, “Zahed MIA.” The interesting thing is Fed extreme fanatics were a bit odd, like a cult. Novak’s extremist fans, of which I know a few, are cool people and Novak himself even acknowledges them and Nolefam to the media as he did at Wimbledon – Julie and PavvyG.
catherine · August 10, 2024 at 7:04 am
Scoop – just a note on frenzied fans. In the era before the internet the only way to connect with your idol was by physically stalking them. Some of these stories were never publicized for obvious safety reasons but I recall Chris Evert being the focus of a British fan’s obsession whenever she played in England. Spooky.
Scoop Malinowski · August 10, 2024 at 7:33 am
Catherine, I guess it all changed when Graf’s fan attempted to murder Seles in broad daylight and never spent a night in jail. One of the most awkward things I ever witnessed in tennis was Federer meeting his fans after a US Open practice on the practice courts. He came off and a large group of RF fans was there on the side behind the dividers. RF went over to sign some things, it was dead silent, then one woman said awkwardly, “I love your smile.” He didn’t acknowledge it, signed a few more and left, no words with anyone. Djokovic is much better with his fans, he appreciates and interacts.