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London - Queen Elizabeth and British Prime Minister David Cameron were among those granted an audience with Roger Federer this year. On Tuesday, however, the Swiss says he was on cloud nine after he got a chance to shake the "Hand of God".
Argentine soccer great Maradona, who infamously punched in the first goal against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals and then said it had been scored by the "Hand of God", has become a regular fixture courtside at the ATP World Tour Finals this week.
Maradona, arguably he greatest players to kick a ball, nodded his approval throughout Federer's 6-4 6-2 demolition of Andy Murray and afterwards the Swiss 16-times grand slam champion said he did not know who was more star-struck when the two sporting icons met face-to-face.
"Yeah, I did meet up. Everything went okay. Really relieved that everything was okay," a smiling Federer, who met the Queen during this year's Wimbledon championships, told reporters after chalking up his second successive Group B win.
"I'm a big soccer fan. It's been a pleasure to meet him. I heard he's a big tennis fan, a big fan of mine.
"I think he was almost more excited to meet me than I was to meet him, and I was very excited. It was a big pleasure."
Maradona is turning out to be a bit of a mascot for the top three players this week - who all remain undefeated in London.
He was also seen chatting to world number one Rafael Nadal in the corridors of the domed O2 Arena while third-ranked Novak Djokovic could not resist pulling his leg after the 50-year-old sat courtside for the Serbian's first match on Monday.
"When he came in during the middle of the first set, I wondered whether I should play with my legs or my hands!" joked Djokovic who hopes to hit some balls in practise with the former Boca Juniors and Napoli player.
