World No.3 Roger Federer was involved in a rant with the chair umpire and lineswoman during his five-set victory over Tennys Sandgren at the Australian Open 2020 on Tuesday.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion survived a scare as he saved seven match points to defeat Tennys Sandgren 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-3. With this victory, he also reached his 15th Australian Open semifinals.
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“What did I say?”: Roger Federer
The Swiss maestro was handled with a code of violation for verbal obscenity as he cursed after he missed a breakpoint in the third set. It was the linesperson, who reported him to the chair umpire after allegedly saying an R-rated German word.
However, the 38-year-old was not happy with the warning as he confronted the linesperson and the umpire. He asked: “What did I say?” to which, the chair Umpire Marijana Veljovic replied: “I can’t repeat that.”
The Swiss star also asked the official, “If you heard it so clearly, why didn’t you call it? Give me a break.”
Later, Roger Federer admitted that he tried to avoid being caught cursing by using mix languages. However, thanks to a fellow multilingual lines official, he received a code violation. Federer also explained that he was frustrated about how he received the penalty.
“Back in the day, I feel like we could speak to linespeople. Nowadays they tell me, Go speak to the umpire. Okay, I’ll go speak to the umpire. I walk across the court because they are not allowed to speak to the players,” he said in the post-match press conference.
He further added: “Honestly, to be frustrated at one point for over, I don’t know, one hour and 15 minutes through the match, I think it’s normal. I found it a bit tough.”
“If you heard it so clearly, why didn’t you call it?” 💀💀 pic.twitter.com/95kqeXD1bw
— StraightSetsWin (@straightsetswin) January 28, 2020
Also Read: “I Don’t Deserve This One” – Roger Federer Gets Emotional After Victory at Australian Open 2020
“Next time I got to check the lines people”: Federer
The Basel native explained that it’s not like he is known to throw around words and whatever. He also suggested it’s not like the whole stadium heard it either. However, he accepts it.
According to the reports, the lineswoman who penalised Federer lives in Switzerland; which is why he was then asked if the swear word was in English.
“It was a mix. Clearly, she (the lineswoman) speaks mixed. Didn’t know that. Next time I got to check the lines people,” joked Federer.
