The real thing? A member of the crew places the can on his head as Federer prepares himself Roger Federer won't reveal whether there is a little bit of magic at work in his trick-shot video that has served up more than three million views on YouTube.
The clip shows Federer knocking a metal can off a man's head with a serve while shooting an ad for Gillette.
Then, he does it again, drawing applause from the crew.
Scroll down to watch the video ...
Here we go: Federer throws the ball in the air to serve at the can on the man's head, leftFederer's official website carried a link to the video which appears to be an homage to the tale of William Tell, who used a bow an arrow to split an apple on his son's head - an old Swiss legend.
But there are questions over whether the modern day Swiss legend - aka Federer - really performed the trick shot, or if it is a cheeky bit of digital cheating.
Following his opening match at the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday night, Federer was asked directly whether the video is real.
'Not saying that,' is how he responded.
Then he added that 'a magician doesn't tell how his tricks work.'
As the video goes viral the question for viewers is, do you believe Federer - who has won a record 16 Grand Slam events and is considered by many to be the greatest tennis player of all time - is capable of such a feat?
The argument is encapsulated by an exchange between two posters on the website Reddit, which goes as follows:
Redditspice: 'Fake attempt at viral marketing. Is fake.
On camera: Roger Federer filming for the Gillette advertMikeF22: 'How do you know it's fake? He is more than capable of really doing that.'
A Huffington Post poll on the veracity of the video currently reveals 57.08 per cent think it is real, while 42.92 per cent think the champ is cheating.
Fans on YouTube were also split with poster mlekrans asking the pertinent question 'If it's not fake.. where is the resulting Gillette ad they were supposed to shoot?'
Another ad watcher was in agreement, likening it to the advert Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho shot for Nike, repeatedly shooting the ball against the crossbar from 20 yards.
'As much as I would like to believe that it's real, you have to be quite naive to believe it is,' wrote Skaryguy.
'Like the Ronaldinho crossbar ad, sure it looks like he's doing it, but there's no way.'
But a poster called nathantaton treads a diplomatic line between the two saying: 'I know not whether it's real or staged, but I appreciate it either way.'
You can watch the video below and make your own mind up.
source :dailymail
