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Bet on Federer gives Oxfam boost

There were over 100,000 reasons Oxfam bosses would have been pleased to see countryman Andy Murray go down to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final.

According to BBC News, with 66/1 odds a £1,520 wager made by Nick Newlife in 2003 stood to make the man from Oxfordshire over £100,000 if Roger Federer won his seventh Wimbledon title before the year 2019.

However Newlife passed away three years ago, bequeathing his standing bet to Oxfam.

So when the Swiss maestro triumphed at the All England Club this week, Oxfam unwittingly made a tidy sum of £101,840.

A spokesperson for the charity, which was founded in the UK, said the result was bittersweet.

"It's just so unfortunate that he nailed it against Andy Murray," Oxfam's Andrew Barton told BBC Radio 5.

"I kept finding myself calling for Murray, particularly in that long game in the third set," he said.

"And then my head was telling me: Andrew, remember Oxfam gets the money if Federer wins."

In the past the unlucky bookmaker William Hill had also forked out £16,750 to Oxfam. That was another bet made by Newlife for when Federer won 14 Grand Slam events.