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How a glamorous 24-year-old soccer star you’ve never heard of beat tennis legend Roger Federer to second place in a sports popularity contest
Retired tennis legend Roger Federer is not used to finishing second, but he has suffered an unflattering loss on the social media stage with a little-known soccer player usurping him on top.
Along with his 20 Grand Slam singles titles, one career Grand Slam (winning all four Grand Slams at least once), and 103 ATP singles titles, including 20 major titles, Federer was also the Swiss king of Instagram.
However, he has now handed that title over to Aston Villa’s glamorous star Alisha Lehmann, now taking over as the most followed Swiss sports star on the platform.
Not even putting on a striking figure at the Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring Summer 2023 show as part of Paris Fashion Week could help Federer stay in the top spot on social media.
Lehmann plays for Aston Villa and the Swiss national team and has become the most popular Swiss personality on Instagram, surpassing the Grand Slam icon.
The Aston Villa star also posts a variety of glamorous and raunchy photos on his social media.
The great Federer has 11.2 million followers on the platform, while Lehmann has now surpassed him with 11.4 million fans.
While there are plenty of images of Lehmann plying her trade in the English FA Women’s National League on her profile, she has something Federer will never match: a raunchy side.
She has posted photos of herself in a bikini in glamorous locations around the world like Miami and Rio de Janeiro.
The footballer recently became single after splitting with Aston Villa star Douglas Luiz, and her 2023 schedule likely helped boost her online profile as well.
Lehmann has scored 32 appearances for Aston Villa and has also made eight appearances for Everton and 42 appearances for West Ham United.
Pictures like this, taken in Miami Beach, have earned Lehmann much praise with one follower commenting, “I was looking for the meaning of perfection and found this.”
Lehmann also once dated former Chelsea Women star Ramona Bachmann.
Swiss tennis stars Stan Wawrinka (1.2 million followers), rising tennis star Belinda Bencic (427,000 followers) and retired Martina Hingis (313,000 followers) are far behind Federer and Lehmann.
In other sports, Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka (2.9 million followers), popular alpine ski star Marco Odermatt (237,000 followers), track sprinter Mujinga Kambundji (133,000 followers) were also well below the hierarchy order.
And while Lehmann has dethroned Federer on the Swiss stage, he has work to do to catch up with the world leaders on Instagram.
Federer has 20 grand slams and said goodbye to international tennis with an elegant letter to his followers on Instagram (pictured below)
Former Portugal, Manchester United and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, who now plays for Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr, tops all athletes with more than 520 million followers.
It’s an area in which he surpasses his great rival Lionel Messi, who sits in second place with 406 million, although he has a World Cup win to his name.
Although technically no longer an athlete, former WWE star Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson ranks third with 354 million followers, with Indian cricket hero Virat Kohli (228 million) and Brazilian soccer star Neymar Jr. (197 million) rounding out the top five.