Federer Accused Of Favoritism, Djokovic Comes To Swiss Legend's Defense

Novak Djokovic and John Isner have jumped to Roger Federer’s defense after the Swiss ace was accused of receiving favorable treatment from tournament organizers especially at the Australian Open by French tennis player Julien Benneteau.

The French doubles player, who retired from the ATP Tour this season, raised eyebrows Monday when he openly accused tournament officials of giving Federer preferential treatment when it comes to scheduling matches.

Benneteau made particular inference toward the Australian Open by revealing Federer had played “12 or 13” of his 14 matches in the night schedule in the past two years. Hence avoiding the soaring temperatures players have to endure during the daytime schedule.

The Frenchman also pointed to the Laver Cup, which is a tournament founded by the 20-time men’s singles Grand Slam champion and his agent. It is a Ryder Cup-style tournament played between Team Europe and Team World.

Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley is a part of the event that began in 2017 and Benneteau believes it is a conflict of interest that the head Australian tennis is being “paid by Federer’s agent” indicating it could be the reason he is favored when matches are scheduled during the first Grand Slam of the year.

“When he [Federer] promotes the Laver Cup, there are a number of conflicts of interest that have become disturbing,” Benneteau said, as quoted on news.com.au.

“In the organization of this event, there’s Craig Tiley, the boss of the Australian Open, who deals with marketing and television rights. He is paid by Roger Federer’s agent and, on the back of that, as luck would have it, Federer played 12 of his 14 matches at 7.30pm,” the French doubles player added.

The accusations from Benneteau have caused a stir in the tennis fraternity but Djokovic was quick to leap to Federer’s defense after his win over Isner in his first round robin match at the ATP Finals in London.

The Serbian, currently the world number one, believes the Swiss tennis legend has earned his right to get special treatment because of the success he has had in Australia over the years and he is the “greatest” to have ever played the game.

Moreover, it is a proven fact Federer is the biggest draw when a tournament commences and apart from the fans at the venue, television broadcasters are also fighting to show the Swiss star’s matches at prime time when they will get maximum viewership.

“In the end of the day, in a way he deserves the special treatment because he’s six-time champion of Australian Open and arguably the best player ever,” Djokovic said Monday.

“If he doesn’t have it, who is going to have it? 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 understand Julien’s point because sometimes it does seem that maybe certain players get more favored year after year in certain tournaments. On the other side, you have to understand that Federer is a driving force of tennis in terms of revenue, in terms of attention,” he explained.

Isner also came to the world number three’s defense and believes the likes of Federer, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal should get more privileges as their influence has helped players below them make a lot of money. The popularity of the sport has soared owing to the intense rivalry and competition levels the big three have brought over the last 15 years.

“If anything, maybe they should get more special treatment because those guys, the top players, have made other players below them a lot of money,” Isner added after his 6-4 6-3 defeat. “It is like the Tiger Woods effect in golf. So that is how you can look at a guy like Roger. He is men’s tennis in my opinion. He deserves everything and more that he’s ever had.”