Seven-year-old Ahmad made a promise to Federer; Now 15, she competes in Indian Wells | ATP Tour

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Seven-year-old Ahmad made a promise to Federer; Now 15, she is competing in Indian Wells

Ahmad thinks about training at John McEnroe’s school

March 02, 2026

At the 2017 US Open, seven-year-old Izyan Ahmad, known as ‘Zizou’, got the chance of a lifetime to ask Roger Federer a question at a press conference. After making a joke asking why people call Federer a goat, the American got down to business.

“You have been the most consistent player of all time. Please continue to play for eight, nine years so that I can play you when I become a Pro?”

“I’ll make sure that maybe I come back to get you,” Federer replied with a smile.

“Is that a promise?” Ahmad asked.

“Almost,” Federer said after a moment of silence. “About one. Pinky promise.”

Little did the former No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings know that eight and a half years later, Ahmad would be playing in the BNP Paribas Open. Now 15, the unseeded Ahmad is competing to qualify for the ATP Masters 1000 event. The wild card will face third seed Thiago Agustin Tirante on Monday.

“I’m very grateful and I’ll do my best to make the most of it,” said Ahmad, the world’s 130th junior. “It’s amazing that I’m young and I’m getting this and seeing all the talent and playing with them.”

Although Ahmad won’t be playing Federer, the memory of the 2017 press conference still sticks with him and has been circulating on social media ahead of the tournament.

“He’s been my favorite since I was a little kid, so I thought a lot about what I wanted to ask him. I didn’t want to ask a boring question, or something that he might have answered too much, so I tried to come up with something that might be a little out of the box,” Ahmad said. “So I came up with this funny joke.

“And then my second follow-up question to that was if he’s going to stay after eight or nine years to train. And he said, ‘I’ll think about it’. Then my mother, who was next to me, whispered to me and said, ‘Ask him if it’s a serious promise’… That was cut off. So I think at that moment, I got what my mother would thank me for.

Five years later, in 2022, Ahmad beat Federer in Switzerland. That is still a milestone for America’s youth. But still, Indian Wells was a long way off, literally and figuratively.

“Obviously that experience was surreal and there was very little chance of that piece becoming what it became. This opportunity is unbelievable. But I think, for me, I worked a little bit for this one. Obviously, I was still given this crazy opportunity, but I played it and I worked hard for it,” Ahmad said. “This one, although it was like 90 percent luck, 10 percent I feel like I did enough for him to think about me.

Fans are used to Ahmad’s collaboration with Federer. But they may not realize that the New Jersey native has trained at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy on Randall’s Island in New York since he was six years old.

“He’s there every day. If I see him on the wall, he’ll stop. We’ll talk. We always call. He’s invested a lot, which I’m very grateful for. He’s a great person,” said Ahmad. “He doesn’t need to take time out of his day to come, give advice and play against me. He watches, he comes to the gym, he watches me work out and stuff. He’s a cool guy, very cool. He’s very cool on the court, very cool on the court. I love him a lot.

“I really respect him and thank him for everything he has done for me. If it wasn’t for his school, I wouldn’t be here.”