Roger Federer sprang to Alexander Zverev’s defense on Saturday after some of the Swiss great’s diehard fans booed the young German after his superb victory in the last four of the ATP Finals.
Zverev, 21, won fair and square 7-5, 7-6 (5) to claim a third victory in six meetings with Federer, but the semi-final ended in an uproar after a controversial second-set tiebreak.
Federer was leading 4-3 when Zverev stopped in the middle of a rally after a ball slipped from a ball boys’ hand and into his line of vision. When the point was replayed Zverev served an ace.
A few points later, Zverev finished off the 37-year-old with a nerveless volley, but his on-court interview was drowned out by a cacophony of boos and heckling from fans who believed that Zverev had gained an unfair advantage.
“Look, I understand the frustration. It’s just unfortunate circumstances,” Federer told reporters. “Booing, I never like it. Sascha doesn’t deserve it.”
“He apologized to me at the net,” Federer added. “I was like, ‘Buddy, shut up — you don’t need to apologize to me here. Congratulations on a great match and a great tournament so far.’”
Federer said he had asked the ball boy whether or not 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,” Federer said.
Zverev said the boos from the “Fed-Heads” in the crowd had shaken him up.
“I was really upset afterwards in the locker room, I’m not going to lie,” Zverev said. “I hope the crowd and the people who were booing maybe look at what actually happened, maybe just realize that I’ve maybe not done anything wrong.”
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