Thiem slams Serena’s ‘bad personality’ after interview is cut short
Dominic Thiem has accused Serena Williams of showing a “bad personality” after his p r e s s c o n f e r e n ce was cu t short to allow the American to take over the main interview room at Roland Garros.
Thiem, who reached his first grand slam final here last year, was discussing his third-round win over Pablo Cuevas with German language journalists when he was told he would need to leave the room.
The fourth seed was understandably unhappy, saying: “I d o n’t r e a l l y g e t i t , s e r i - o u s l y. What t h e h e l l? B u t it’s a joke, really. What’s the point of that, that I have to leave the room because she’s coming?”
It is understood that, while Williams, pictured, did not request for Thiem to be ousted, she was unwilling to wait for the Austrian to finish and the second interview room was also in use, leaving organisers in a diffic u l t p o s i t i o n . T h e American was not in the best of moods having been beaten by Sofia Kenin in her earliest loss at a grand slam for five years. Tournament director Guy Forget apologised to Thiem for the incident and, speaking to Eurosport yesterday, the 25-year- old was in no mood to forgive Williams.
He said: “I wasn’t angry or frustrated. Maybe for a couple of minutes or so. It is just the principle.
“It doesn’t matter if it is me who sits in there. Even if a junior is in there, every player has to wait. It is a matter of course. It also shows a bad personality, in my opinion. I am 100 per cent sure [Roger] Federer or [Rafael] Nadal would never do something like that.”
F e d e r e r h a d e a r l i e r weighed in on the issue after h i s f o u r t h - r o u n d v i c t o r y over Leonardo Mayer, saying: “I don’t know what went wrong but something went wrong for this to happen.
“I think there is, with all the players, [an understanding] the one who is still in the tournament gets priority.
“There must have been a misunderstanding, or maybe they should have kept Serena still in the locker room, not waiting here in the press centre. I understand Dominic’s frustration. For him it’s just about how in the world did this happen?”
F e d e r e r c o n t i n u e d h i s s t r a i g h t f o r war d p r o g r e s s through the draw with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Mayer in just an hour and 42 minutes.
The Swiss great will play h i s o l d f r i e n d a n d r i v a l S t a n Waw r i n k a a f t e r t h e 34-year-old won an extraordinary contest against sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. The pair battled for five hours a n d n i n e mi n u t e s b e f o r e Wawrinka triumphed 7- 6 (6), 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 8-6.
R a f a e l Na d a l e a s e d p a s t A r g e n t i n e J u a n I g n a c i o Londero, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. Nadal had dropped a set in his t h i r d - r o u n d c l a s h w i t h David Goffin but was in no mood to repeat that against Londero.
B r i t a i n’s J o e S a l i s b u r y reached his second grand slam quarter-final in men’s d o u b l e s w i t h A m e r i c a n partner Rajeev Ram. Salisbury, 27, who made his first slam semi-final last season at Wimbledon with Frederik Nielsen, is now in the latter stages of another tourn a m e n t w i t h R a m a f t e r they beat eighth seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers 3- 6, 6 -3, 7- 6 (5). They will now play French duo Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin.