'Shame on them': Roger Federer in 'embarrassing' French Open act
Fans have absolutely blasted French Open officials for scheduling Roger Federer for his first ever night match in Paris.
The 39-year-old champ started his match against Dominik Koepfer late due to a scheduling issue with the third set finishing close to midnight.
INSANE: Russian tennis player arrested in major French Open scandal
WOW: Naomi Osaka in fresh withdrawal following sad French Open exit
Despite the late night start, Federer was on fire and took the first set under the bright lights of Paris in front of an empty stadium on Philippe Chatrier stadium.
But Federer looked fatigued at the start of the second and started to fade quickly as Koepfer took the next set.
Commentators noted Federer's legs appeared to be gone and the 20-time Grand Slam champ was going to need to lift in order to take the third set.
But the prospect of Federer going out and potentially playing his last French Open match in front of an empty stadium - due to Paris' Covid-19 curfew - angered fans.
Fans labelled the scheduling issue 'embarrassing' from French Open officials and said Federer deserved better following his illustrious career.
Things Roger Federer is not still playing for:
Night sessions in an empty stadium pic.twitter.com/3sP64QMoq6— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) June 5, 2021
Dominik Koepfer evens it at one set apiece with Roger Federer by winning the 2nd set tiebreak
There are no fans due to the Paris curfew and Mary Carillo is saying it will be a 'tragedy" if Fed plays his final French Open match in front of no fans (on the Peacock network) https://t.co/qd84sOEZlu— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) June 5, 2021
Wow. This might be Roger Federer’s last match at the French Open, and they make him play a night match, embarrassing from the organisers. Federer deserves better. #Federer #rolandgarros #RogerFederer #FrenchOpen
— MdZCworks (@MdZCworks) June 5, 2021
Mary Carillo is right. If this is Roger Federer’s last match at the French Open, shame on them for putting him in an empty stadium.
— Mike Lupica (@MikeLupica) June 5, 2021
Roger Federer is playing in front of an empty stadium right now (tied 1-1 when I type this) at the French Open. If he were to lose tonight, it would likely be his last match ever at Roland Garros. Would be a real tragedy to see the 🐐 go out like that.
— Benjamin Sanders (@CoachBenSanders) June 5, 2021
This could be Federer’s last ever french open ... can you imagine if he goes out crowded at 1 am?
— Jordan Holt (@JordanHolt23) June 5, 2021
anyone knows what's the time limit to end the game before is postponed on roland garros?#rolandgarros @rolandgarros #federer #koepfer
— Hank Scorpio (@drmquake) June 5, 2021
So weird watching Federer with no crowd
— Laura Robson (@laurarobson5) June 5, 2021
With no one in the stands. Horrible.
— aeon_flux (@aeon_flux) June 5, 2021
Despite looking down and out, Federer showed his champion mentality and capitalised on Koepfer's nerves to steal the third set.
He then went on to win the match 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, which the commentator described as a 'Houdini' act from Federer.
Nadal, Djokovic advance at French Open
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have stormed into the fourth round of the French Open and both set up clashes with talented Italian youngsters.
Djokovic needed just an hour and 32 minutes to defeat Ricardas Berankis 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 becoming the first man in the Open era to reach the last 16 in Paris for 12 consecutive years.
Next up he faces 19-year-old Lorenzo Musetti who has made it through to the fourth round on his grand slam debut.
Nadal extended his run of consecutive matches won at Roland Garros to 33 and consecutive sets to 32 with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Cameron Norrie.
with AAP
Watch 'Mind Games', the new series from Yahoo Sport Australia exploring the often brutal mental toil elite athletes go through in pursuit of greatness:
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.
