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ROALND GARROS 2015 - DAY 1 IP: 46.255.183.159 Posted on May 24, 2015 at 09:54:44 PM by David Barnes
ROLAND GARROS 2015
SUNDAY 24 MAY - DAY 1
Early in the second set of his match against Alejandro Falla on Court Philippe Chatrier today, at 1-1 on the Colombian's serve, and after five break points, Roger Federer played a sublime backhand drop-shot; helped by the net, it stymied his opponent, brought gasps of wonderment from a normally nonchalant first-day crowd, and won him the point. Falla needed treatment to his thigh several times in the third set, so was below his best, and this eighth encounter between the two went the way of all the previous seven; an easy victory for Federer, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, a rite of passage that may bode well for the rest of his tournament here this year.
Immediately following the match, however, as the great man was gathering his belongings after Cedric Pioline's on-court interview, a young man ran on to the court from one corner and approached Federer for a selfie, which was accorded with the Swiss player's usual grace and tolerance, until he tired of the encounter and waved him away. At no point was the youngster challenged; indeed the security guards who noticed him seemed to indulge him (as did Federer, with admirable sang froid, although he was clearly annoyed afterwards); " Well, I'm not happy about it. It happened yesterday in the practice, too. I think people should react much more quickly. They [the security guards] should know what they do. It's not just being there, standing on the courts wearing a nice tie and suit. It's not that funny you know. You would think this is a place where nobody can come on, [he] just wanders on and nothing happens. Normally I only speak on behalf of myself, but . . . I think I can speak on behalf of all the players, that's where you do your job, where you want to feel safe. It wasn't a nice situation to be in".
Federer has been in the same situation before, of course (infamously in the 2009 final against Robin Soderling), so that his comments at the post-match press conference on another topic (he was asked what he thought of so many players over 30 years of age - nearly a third of the field - being in the draw this year) had a pleasing, if unintended, double meaning; "Experience helps in the sense that you're more relaxed. You go into a first-round match like today in a calm manner without any panic . . . you know how to prepare".
The first Sunday of any Grand Slam always risks being a somewhat muted affair, so the incident with the teenage intruder and the selfie was, if nothing else, manna from heaven for the many journalists pacing the corridors of the Press Centre with not a lot to do, or surreptitiously watching matches from the bar. They'd have been better employed searching out the young perpetrator and getting his side of the story - but no doubt the guys from L'Equipe are already on the case. He has been detained for questioning by tournament officials.
It proved easier, as a random spectator, to get on to the Centre Court today than into the Press Centre Interview Room as a properly accredited journalist (they were checking all the passes manually at the entrance). Gilbert Ysern, tournament director, eventually appeared to give his official reaction to the Federer incident. Scheduled for 4.35pm, the press conference was much delayed until just after 5pm due to more parochial concerns - a ceremony in memory of Patrice Dominguez, the former player and French Davis Cup Captain, who died in April at the relatively young age of 65. The ceremony included footage of Dominguez in his prime, a minute's applause from both participants and crowd, and close-ups of his widow and children, in the Presidential box alongside Ysern and FFT President Jean Gachassin. 'Scandaleux', one wizened hack said to me about the delay in proceedings.
Ysern said that the Federer incident should never have happened, calling it "clearly not acceptable", and blaming it on "lack of judgment" on the part of the security officials on and around the court. In the French part of his press conference this wording changed subtly to an 'erreur de jugement'; whatever the exact language, it remains an embarrassment for the tournament organisers, on a slow news day, and hardly how Monsieur Ysern would have liked the tournament to begin.
Coincidentally, this weekend's Observer carries an article by William Skidelsky detailing his obsession with the Swiss superstar, and relating a particular incident in 2013; "At the end of the year, in November, I saw Federer lose to Djokovic, in three sets, in his first group match at the World Tour Finals. I’d managed to land a press pass and, afterwards, I attended Federer’s press conference. I was surprised by how tired and dispirited he looked: after all". Mind you, this writer can remember as a kid, during one Roland Garros back in the early 1970s, after successfully negotiating a couple of small barriers alongside the court, finding myself a minute or two later in the Players' Locker Room as Ilie Nastase emerged from the shower. Not a pretty sight, even then . . . but these untoward surprises happen.
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David Barnes/Topspin, 2015
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