Federer is the latest tennis player to take up the challenge (©GettyImages). Roger Federer is renowned for keeping an ice cool persona on the court, and now he has had a chance to express that for charity.
The world number three has taken up the social media phenomenon that is the Ice Bucket Challenge, after a number of nominations, including one from fellow professional Ana Ivanovic.
Ivanovic nominated the Swiss after taking up the challenge herself on Tuesday, which has been set up to raise awareness of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), the most common of the five motor neurone diseases.
The 17-time Grand Slam winner had the video posted onto his Facebook page, in which he spoke of how pleased he was to donate to ALS, before pouring a bucket of freezing cold water on top of himself.
Judging by his composed reaction to the ice, it is clearly going to take more than a freezing bucket of water to take him out of his comfort zone, as he shows the same relaxed manner that has seen him become one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Important message
The 33-year-old also posted a message for his followers, in which he addressed how important the message of awareness is in creating attention for the challenge.
He posted: “Challenged accepted, Anna Wintour, Gavin Rossdale, and Ana Ivanovic!
"ALS is a tragic disease, and I hope that the social media attention from the Ice Bucket Challenge continues to bring more awareness and donation dollars to curing ALS.”
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Federer is not the only men’s professional to have taken up the challenge, as he has followed in the footsteps of world number one Novak Djokovic, as the Serbian had his own ice bucket challenge filmed, and he was nominated by fellow tennis players Bernard Tomic and Sabine Lisicki.
A new craze
The hysteria surrounding the ice bucket challenge has swept across other sports, as former footballer David Beckham, former cricketer Michael Vaughan and Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton have all got in on the act this week amongst others.
Federer took time out of his schedule to take up the challenge in New York, where he is currently in preparation for this year’s US Open, which begins on Monday.
The draw for the tournament was made on Thursday, and Federer has been paired with world number 77 Marinko Matosevic in the opening round, and he will be aiming to win the tournament at Flushing Meadows for the sixth time.
It has been over two years since Federer won his last Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2012, but he has been on strong form recently, having won the Cincinnati Masters last week after reaching the final of Wimbledon in July and the Toronto Masters earlier in August.
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