The museum in Newport, Rhode Island said on Monday that the hologram of the 17-time Grand Slam champion talking about why he loves tennis is the first use of holographic technology in the US.

The museum, in the Newport Casino, houses the Hall of Fame’s collection of more than 25,000 artifacts, including hundreds of thousands of images, videos and publications that have been reinterpreted for the reopening.

The “Roger Federer Experience” is designed to make visitors feel as though they they are in a room with the champion in a “holographic theatre”, the museum said.

“When visitors walk into the theatre, the hologram of Federer welcomes visitors and begins a dynamic monologue about a topic that museum visitors and Federer have in common — a love of tennis,” it said.

Federer then runs through a top-ten list of great things about tennis, ranging from its “athletic beauty” to the challenge of it being an individual sport, “all while showcasing a few of his signature shots”.

The 33-year-old Swiss said he was honoured to be involved in the project.

“I've always had an interest in the history of our sport and I believe we've been fortunate to be able to learn from and build on that history,” the Basel native said in a statement.

“The Hall of Fame does a tremendous job of preserving our sport's history and celebrating it with the world.”

Douglas Stark, museum director, said the goal was for visitors to leave the museum feeling educated about and inspired by the rich history of tennis.


”We designed the exhibits in a way that people could participate in the learning process together — a touch table in which you can 'serve' tennis history questions back and forth, video walls in which you can select match highlights and watch together, artifacts from 60 years ago and artifacts from last season, so as to appeal to a span of generations, among other aspects.”