A man who went into a coma in December, 2004 woke up one month ago and says he was stunned to find that his favorite tennis player – Roger Federer – was still playing the game at age 34. And, even better, Federer was playing at such a high level that Jesus Aparicio was able to watch his one-time idol play another Grand Slam final, at the U.S. Open earlier this month.
When he was 17, Aparicio, who is from Spain, was a huge Federer fan. He followed the exploits of the 22-year-old tennis star who had taken the game by storm by winning three of the year’s four Grand Slams in 2004. Aparicio was so much a fan that he decided he would save money so he could go see The Fed play at Wimbledon in 2005.
But in December of 2004, Aparicio was out celebrating his 18th birthday when he and his friends got into a car accident that sent him into a coma last lasted 11 years. When he woke in late August, three days before the U.S. Open, Aparicio says he was talking with his parents about all that he’d missed when he suddenly remembered about Federer and asked about him, figuring he retired long ago, as most tennis players do by age 34.
“When I knew, at 34 years, he is still playing and is No. 2 in the world, I thought they were kidding me. When I heard that he reached 17 Slam titles, I put my hands on my face.
“I knew Federer was very good, but I never thought he could win all he has won.”
I wonder how stunned he was when he heard Federer was no longer sporting that dope ponytail. Anyhow, the Seville native said he enjoyed watching Federer play in the Open final (“Djokovic is good”) and has one hope for his tennis-watching future.
