![\"'Zizou'](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ahmad-federer-indian-wells-2026.jpg\")
<\/p>\n Indian Wells
\n Seven-year-old Ahmad made Federer a promise; Now 15, he is competing at Indian Wells<\/p>\n
Ahmad reflects on training at John McEnroe’s academy<\/p>\n
March 02, 2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
ATP Tour\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
‘Zizou’ Ahmad, who once made a promise to Roger Federer in a press conference, is set to make his ATP Tour qualifying debut at Indian Wells.
\n By Andrew Eichenholz<\/p>\n
At the 2017 US Open<\/a>, seven-year-old Izyan Ahmad<\/a>, known as \u2018Zizou\u2019, received the opportunity of a lifetime to ask Roger Federer<\/a> a question at a press conference. After making a joke asking about why people call Federer the goat, the American got down to business.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve been the most consistent player of all time. Can you please continue to play for eight, nine years so that I can play you when I turn pro?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll make sure that maybe I come back for you,\u201d a smiling Federer responded.<\/p>\n \u201cIs that a promise?\u201d Ahmad asked.<\/p>\n \u201cAlmost,\u201d Federer said after a pause. \u201cAlmost one. Pinky promise.\u201d<\/p>\n 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<\/a>. Now 15, the unranked Ahmad is competing in qualifying for the ATP Masters 1000 event. The wild card will take on third seed Thiago Agustin Tirante<\/a> Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m super grateful and I’ll do my best to make the most out of it,\u201d Ahmad, the No. 130 junior in the world, said. \u201cIt’s obviously amazing to be this young and getting to experience this and see all the pros and get to play with them, too.\u201d <\/p>\n Although Ahmad will not get to play Federer, the memory of the 2017 press conference remains with him and has been circulating on social media ahead of the tournament.<\/p>\n \u201cHe’s been my favourite since I was a little kid, so I thought hard about what I wanted to ask him. I didn’t want to ask a boring question, or something that he probably answered a lot, so I tried to come up with something that would be a little out of the box,\u201d Ahmad said. \u201cSo I came up with this funny joke. It was not really that funny, but for a seven-year-old, it was kind of funny. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd then my second follow-up question to that was if he would stay after eight or nine years for me to go pro. And he said, \u2018I\u2019ll think about it\u2019. And then my mom, who was right next to me, whispered to me and told me, \u2018Ask him if it’s a pinky promise\u2019\u2026 That got clipped. So I guess that moment, I\u2019ve got my mom to thank for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Five years later, in 2022, Ahmad got to hit with Federer in Switzerland. That remains a highlight for the young American. But even then, Indian Wells was quite far away, literally and figuratively.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously that experience was quite surreal and it was highly unlikely that that specific clip would become what it became. This opportunity again is unbelievable. But I think, for me, I worked a little bit more for this one. Obviously, I was still given this crazy opportunity, but I did play and work hard for this one,\u201d Ahmad said. \u201cThis one, even though it was, like 90 per cent luck, 10 per cent I feel like I did enough for them to think about me. So I feel like this one in particular, I’m trying to do my best to make the most of it.\u201d<\/p>\n