Swiss stars have own reasons for anger in Paris
Federer alarmed at lax security
PARIS — The French Open found itself under attack from two Swiss stars Sunday after a shambolic day that did nothing for the reputation of this historic tournament. Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka eased through their first-round matches in straight sets, yet both were later outspoken as they discussed a pair of inexplicable breaches — one of on-court security and the other of the players’ privacy.
Federer had just wrapped up his 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win over Alejandro Falla when a fan leaped out and tried to take a selfie with his hero. Alarmingly, the security man charged with repelling invaders seemed to be daydreaming and took several seconds to react to the potential danger.
“I’m not happy about it,” stormed a stony-faced Federer afterwards.
“Obviously, not one second I’m happy about it. It happened yesterday in practice, too. That was just a kid, but then three more kids came. And today on Centre Court, where you would think this is a place where nobody can come on, he just wanders on and nothing happens. It happened during the finals in 2009 as well for me. So I definitely think that something needs to happen quickly. Basically yesterday already.”
Any incident of this kind inevitably recalls the stabbing of Monica Seles at Hamburg in 1993, when a crazed fan leaned over the courtside barrier and plunged a kitchen knife into her back.
But there are also particular security concerns in Paris this year after the terrorist atrocity at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine in January.
The streets are still being patrolled by an expanded number of gendarmes, reinforcing the sense of a city that feels a little under siege.
“Normally I only speak on behalf of myself,” added Federer, “but in this situation I think I can speak on behalf of all the players. That (the court) is where you do your job, that’s where you want to feel safe. Nothing happened, so I’m relieved. But it wasn’t a nice situation to be in.”
Federer said that he had received an apology from tournament director Gilbert Ysern and added that “I hope that there is going to be a reaction.” But that wasn’t the impression given by Ysern in the interview room two hours later as he gave a spoken equivalent of the Gallic shrug.
“To some extent it’s not the end of the world,” he said.
“At this stage there is no reason for us to change the security procedures. They are organized; it was just a lack of judgment this afternoon.”
Wawrinka’s objection covered very different ground. He did not see the Federer incident, as he was busy with the later stages of his equally smooth 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Marsel Ilhan, but he certainly did see the extraordinary article on the French Open’s website on Saturday, in which the author spent the best part of 500 words discussing the breakup of Wawrinka’s marriage then mentioned the “news/rumour/hearsay/ guesswork” linking Wawrinka to the 18-year-old Croatian player Donna Vekic.
“I don’t think it was great for the tournament to do that s--- article,” said Wawrinka, 30.
“It’s the official website of a grand slam, so I hope the guy who did that article is not a journalist.
“I also hope the guy who is supposed to check all the articles on the website is not working anymore for the tournament.”