Roger Federer’s classy act after opponent attacked by crowd
Roger Federer has defended his opponent Alexander Zverev after the Swiss tennis champion’s fans booed Zverev on Saturday as he beat Federer in a stunning victory at the ATP finals.
Zverev, 21, beat the 20-time grand slam champion fair and square 7-5 7-6 (7-5) as he claimed his third victory after his sixth meeting with Federer, but the monumental occasion was overshadowed by the booing of the crowd.
Federer, who took charge of the match, was beating Zverev by one point with the score at 4-3, but after a ball slipped from a ball boy’s hand into Zverev’s line of vision, the 21-year-old stopped the play mid-rally.
When the point was replayed, Zverev served an ace.
After the controversial moment, Zverev obtained a few more points causing Federer to lose the match, which is no easy feat.
But Zverev’s victory wasn’t welcomed by Federer fans as his on-court interview was drowned out by loud boos from those who believe the young tennis player's win was unfair.
Speaking to reporters, Federer said: “Look, I understand the frustration. It’s just unfortunate circumstances.
“Booing, I never like it. We see it in other sports all the time, but in tennis it’s rare.
“So, when it happens, it gets very personal and we take it very direct. I think it’s unfortunate that this happened. Sascha doesn’t deserve it.
“He apologised to me at the net. I was like, ‘Buddy, shut up! You don’t need to apologise to me here. Congratulations on a great match and a great tournament so far.’
“He didn’t do anything about it. He just called it how it was. He felt it affected play. There is a rule that if something like this happens, obviously you replay points.”
Federer mentioned how he approached the ball boy to find out if he had dropped the ball.
“He said, ‘Yes, I did drop the ball.’ From that standpoint, it’s okay, no problem, that happens. It’s all good. I hope he doesn’t have a sleepless night. It’s not a big deal at the end of the day. This is life, this is sport. Definitely not mad at him. It’s all good,” he said.
But despite Federer’s support, Zverev said the reaction from the crowd left him disheartened.
“I was a little bit sad at the end with the booing and reaction of the crowd,” he said.
“I was very emotional afterwards. The booing went into cheering kind of afterwards, which kind of helped me.
“I was really upset afterwards in the locker room, I’m not going to lie. I had to take a few minutes for myself.
“But, you know, I hope the crowd and the people who were booing maybe look at what actually happened, maybe just realise that I’ve maybe not done anything wrong.”