"I asked to play Monday at the US Open and I played Tuesday night…A lot of the facts are not right" - When Roger Federer denied favoritism accusations
Roger Federer once denied accusations of receiving special treatment from tennis authorities. He defended himself after former French pro Julien Benneteau made these allegations in 2018.
After his retirement in 2018, Benneteau claimed in an interview with France's RMC Sport that Federer used his status to gain favorable match scheduling. He referenced the 20-time Grand Slam champion's matches at the 2017 and 2018 Australian Open, suggesting that he was allowed to play in the evening sessions to avoid Melbourne's extreme heat. He also accused tournament director Craig Tiley of being biased towards the Swiss.
Federer, while competing at the ATP Finals, dismissed the accusations during a media interaction. He admitted that he was occasionally asked about his preferred playing times, but clarified that the final decisions were made by the tournament organizers,
“I get asked, ‘Would you like to play Monday or Tuesday,’ sometimes. Sometimes I get asked, ‘Do you want to play day or night?’ Sometimes they go ask my agent. Sometimes they ask me, you know, 'Asia wants you to play at night,'" Federer said.
"Yes, sometimes we have our say. But I asked to play Monday at the US Open and I played Tuesday night … Sometimes I get help, sometimes I don’t … But a lot of the facts are not right, just to be clear," he added.
Novak Djokovic and Craig Tiley came to Roger Federer's defense amid favoritism accusations
Novak Djokovic and Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley both came to Roger Federer's defense after the Swiss was accused of receiving special treatment at the Melbourne Slam.
At the 2018 ATP Finals, Djokovic said that if Federer received "special treatment," it was deserved because of his success in Melbourne. He added that he didn’t find Julien Benneteau’s argument very convincing.
"He deserves the special treatment because he's six-time champion of Australian Open and arguably the best player ever. If he doesn't have it, who is going to have it?" the Serb said.
"People want to see him play on the center court, and they want to see him play in showtime, the best hours, which is 7:30 at night in Rod Laver Arena. I really don't see a very strong argument there," he added.
Meanwhile, Tiley said (via PEOPLE):
"The fans demand his appearance in the big stadiums and our broadcasters naturally want his matches to air in prime time. I don’t think there’s a tournament director in the world who’s not going to take those factors into account when setting the schedule."