Fans try to spoil the party, but Zverev and Federer handle incident with class

Tennis fans have been known to be awful. At the U.S. Open they can be unruly. At the French Open they despise anyone who isn’t French (or Belgian, or a certain Swiss). At a lot of 250s they often just don’t care.

But in London they’re not a problem. They generally know their tennis and are unwaveringly respectful–certainly at Wimbledon and also at Queen’s Club.

An aberration to that rule, however, plagued the O2 Arena on Saturday afternoon. But before the fans get the tongue-lashing they deserve, they at least have two excuses: 1) they probably didn’t see what happened; 2) Roger Federer.

Crowds quite simply go batshit crazy when they glimpse the GOAT with their own eyes; normally in good way, with excitement. But that craziness can go south in a hurry when an opponent has the audacity to actually go out and beat Federer–and that’s exactly what happened at the Nitto ATP Finals.

It all started during the second-set tiebreaker of a semifinal showdown between Federer and Alexander Zverev. Serving at 3-4, Zverev stopped play in the middle of a rally and called for a let after a ballboy dropped a ball that proceeded to roll near the back wall behind Federer’s baseline. Normally, of course, only the chair umpire calls a let. But Carlos Bernardes didn’t see it; only Zverev saw it, as the German was facing in that direction whereas Bernades was tracking Federer’s previous shot on its way back over the net to Zverev’s side.

In fairness, fans most likely missed it, too. Perhaps only a handful sitting behind Zverev with his sam vantage point noticed the errant yellow spheroid.

They certainly didn’t miss what happened next. Following a brief discussion between Bernardes and the ballboy, in which the ballboy admitted to dropping the ball, a let was officially called.

The crowd had already started to hoot and holler before Zverev toed the line to replay the 3-4 point. When he promptly fired an ace to level the score at 4-4, the boos only grew more hostile. Predictably, the booing became even worse–embarrassing, it must be said–when the underdog polished off a 7-5, 7-6(5) victory just a few points later.

It got so bad that Zverev’s on-court interview with Annabel Croft could barely get started. When the 21-year-old couldn’t even get through an opening apology (which he shouldn’t have had to offer in the first place), Croft took over.

“I’m not sure why you’re all booing,” she announced. “I think you have to be a little bit more respectful.”

Why they were booing is obvious. Quite simply, Roger Federer lost a tennis match. If Zverev had ended up losing the match in three sets, you could have mistaken the pomp and circumstance during his exit from the court with Prince William, himself. Get out of Federer’s path to the final and you’re a hero; beat Roger Federer and you’re the villain. It isn’t complicated. Zverev beat Roger Federer, and that’s simply unacceptable–even when you unequivocally play by the rules.

Croft knew as much, too; she just couldn’t go right out out and tell the fans, “Shut up, you idiots! Don’t boo the kid just because Federer lost!”

“The crowd that were booing didn’t get the result they wanted,” Croft said afterward. “It was such a hostile and horrible moment to be standing there and I felt for Sascha because I could see him rocked to the core. I thought he was going to crumble; when you have that many people on you, in that atmosphere….”

But Zverev didn’t crumble, instead getting through his on-court interview with Croft in fine style as a borderline Davis Cup atmosphere engulfed him. First boos. Then the more knowledgeable tennis fans would try to drown them out with cheers. Then more boos. Then more cheers to combat the dodos. And on and on.

“It was a tough situation I think for everybody; I think for Roger, for me, (and) for the crowd,” Zverev reflected during his press conference. “There’s obviously a lot of Roger fans, as he deserves to have them, all over the world. He’s the greatest player of all time. He’s also one of the greatest people that ever played on a tennis court. He deserves to have all the fans in the world.”

It would simply be more helpful none of those fans were so blinded by their fandom that they take it out on his conquerors. If only they could see like Federer that Zverev did nothing wrong.

“I’m not questioning Sascha’s sportsmanship in any way,” Federer stated. “I think it’s a bold move by Sascha to stop the rally because the umpire can just say, ‘Sorry, you’re in the rally. I don’t care. You lost the point. I didn’t see it.’ That’s where I just wanted to double-check with the umpire, what is the situation. But not for a second there was a sportsmanship situation there. It was just totally an umpire’s decision with the ball kid and the linesperson, as well, just making sure they got the facts right.

“Booing, I never like it. We see it in other sports all the time, but in tennis it’s rare. So when it happens, it gets very personal and we take it very direct. I think it’s unfortunate that this happened. Sascha doesn’t deserve it.

“He apologized to me at the net. I was like, ‘Buddy, shut up. You don’t need to apologize to me here. Congratulations on a great match and a great tournament so far. All the best for the finals.’ And you move on.”

Will the crowd move on in the finals?

“I just hope it doesn’t happen,” Zverev said when asked about the prospect of getting booed again on Sunday against Novak Djokovic. “I don’t know why I should get booed tomorrow. I hope people realize that I’ve maybe not done anything wrong.”

Zverev can rest assured that it won’t happen–not after people see the replay of the point, the classy comments by both players, and in general the light. They’ll come to their senses.

The fans stunk today. They won’t stink tomorrow. They’ll make up for it. And it will only help that Zverev is trying to topple Novak Djokovic. Not Roger Federer.

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