August Chris Oddo 08/30/2019

Federer: I’ve Heard This Sh-t Too Often

NEW YORK—Roger Federer sent a message to those suggesting the Big 3 call the scheduling shots: Cut the crap.An energized Federer dismissed Dan Evans, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1, on Arthur Ashe Stadium roaring into his 66th Grand Slam fourth round at the US Open.More: Federer Flies Into US Open Fourth RoundAfterward, Evans, who played for the second day in a row after rain cancelled his second-round clash vs. Lucas Pouille orginally set for Wednesday, said beating the 20-time Grand Slam king on less than 24 hours rest in a major was "near on impossible.""Him being totally fresh and me, you know, battling yesterday, didn't get out of here until probably going on 6:00, just complete polar opposites, isn't it?" Evans said. "And that is just to try and beat him feeling tired, stiff, playing four sets yesterday, it's near on impossible."The 58th-ranked Briton suggested the Big 3—world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Federer—are the only players who can exert influence on their match schedules."You think a guy who's my ranking has any say in (scheduling)?" Evans told the media, adding. "There is probably about four people in this tournament who has a say when they play. Maybe three. Yeah."In response to that charge, Federer said he doesn't recall requesting a day match and fumed against charges he dictates scheduling saying "I've heard this shit too often now. I'm sick and tired of it.""I don't remember that I asked for something," Federer said. "Yeah, yeah. It's maybe nice to be out of the sun, as well, I don't know, I thought. But I definitely didn't do it intentionally. I don't even know if the team asked for day.""I know there was questions to have a preference. But that doesn't mean like, 'Roger asks, Roger gets.' Just remember that, because I have heard this shit too often now."I'm sick and tired of it, that apparently I call the shots. The tournament and the TV stations do. We can give our opinion. That's what we do. But I'm still going to walk out even if they schedule me at 4:00 in the morning."

The 20-time Grand Slam champion said confronting challenging schedules, particularly at majors, is part of the sport."Yeah, you could definitely argue that the scheduling was not in his favor," Federer said of Evans. "But it's anyway not fair for me to play my match under the roof, get it done, sit back, relax the next day while he's battling out a four-hour or a three-hour match, whatever it is, against Pouille. The problem already starts there. That's tennis. It's entertainment, and the show must go on."The third-seeded Swiss' strong reaction may stem from criticism of favoritism a fellow player launched last November.Julien Benneteau raised questions—and eyebrows—when in a radio interview he pointed fingers at Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley for unfairly favoring Federer when it comes to scheduling based on their relationship working together on Laver Cup.Benneteau says it is Federer that benefits from this convivial agreement between the two tennis entities.“In organizing this event, there's Craig Tiley, the boss of the Australian Open, who deals with marketing and TV rights,” Benneteau said. “He is paid by Roger Federer's agent and behind, as luck would have it, Federer played 12 of his 14 matches at 7:30 pm.”Tiley shot back saying Federer's night schedule in Melbourne is predicated on both fan and television demand for him to play in prime time so the largest audience can see the Swiss superstar in action.“In terms of players and their appeal, it needs to be said that Roger Federer is a once-in-a-generation player widely regarded as one of the biggest ‘box office’ athletes in the world,” Tiley said in a statement.

A long statement from Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley in response to Julien Benneteau's comments on the scheduling of Roger Federer's matches. https://t.co/228CFjeCrd pic.twitter.com/HUX1G5NLBM
— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) November 13, 2018

“He has been regularly voted Australia's favorite athlete. The fans demand his appearance in the big stadiums and our broadcasters naturally want his matches to air in prime time.”Novak Djokovic and John Isner also defended Federer at the ATP Finals in London last fall.

Djokovic on Federer's special treatment: 'That's debatable. At the end of the day, in a way he deserves the special treatment, he's six times Australian Open champion and arguably the best player ever. If he doesn't have it, who will? I really don't see a strong argument there.'
— George Bellshaw (@BellshawGeorge) November 12, 2018

“I really don’t see a very strong argument there,” Djokovic said in London last November. “To be honest, I understand Julien’s point because sometimes it does seem that maybe certain players get more favored year after year in certain tournaments."You kind of have to follow the pattern to really understand whether there is a case or not.”Photo credit: US Open Facebook]]>