Roger Federer of Switzerland holds the winners trophy after defeating Andy Murray of Britain in their men’s final tennis match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London. (Photo: Toby Melville/REUTERS)
In case you missed it, the men’s finals at Wimbledon wrapped up on Sunday. And the hopes of an entire nation were dashed.
A win by Scotsman Andy Murray would have marked the first time in 76 years that a British citizen won the final at Wimbledon.
But in the dramatic final, Murray fell in four sets to Roger Federer of Switzerland.
After the match, Murray was overcome as he thanked fans and his family.
There were emotions of a different sort at the British charity Oxfam. With Federer’s win — and Murray’s loss — Oxfam netted more than $150,000.
That is because of a bet placed nearly a decade ago on Roger Federer winning seven or more Wimbledon titles, a feat he achieved Sunday by beating Andy Murray.
The man who made the bet died in 2009. He left his entire estate, including the bet at 66-1 odds to Oxfam.
Oxfam’s Andrew Barton says the Murray-Federer match was difficult to watch because his loyalties were split.
“I was just sitting there watching the tennis and I kept finding myself calling for Murray, particularly in that long game in the third set.
“And then my head is telling me: Andrew, remember Oxfam gets the money if Federer wins.”
So in this case, one group’s loss is another’s gain.
The betting agent was quoted as saying they normally wouldn’t be too happy about paying out a six-figure sum, but since it was going to Oxfam, he said, “We’re delighted that a sad story has had a very positive conclusion.”
And it seems the punter, as gamblers are known in the UK, did well by Oxfam even before the Sunday match. The man placed an earlier bet also at 66-1 on Roger Federer. The wager was on the Swiss tennis star winning at least 14 grand slam titles before 2020.
It paid out $26,000 for Oxfam last year.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.