Ever seen Roger Federer play in the middle of a scorching hot, summer day in Melbourne? Didn't think so.
That's the complaint of Frenchman Julien Benneteau who has accused the Swiss Master of receiving favouritism when it came to scheduling while on Tour.
In a heated interview with French radio station RMC Sport, an infuriated Benneteau claimed tournament organisers, especially at the Australian Open, give Federer an unfair advantage as he hogs up the prime time night slot at Rod Laver Arena.
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He also insinuated Federer's promotion of the Laver Cup represented a ''conflict of interest''.
“When he (Federer) promotes the Laver Cup, there are a number of conflicts of interest that have become disturbing,” Benneteau said.
“In the organisation 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.”
But the 20-time Grand Slam champion received backing from Novak Djokovic after the world number one was asked for his opinion following his victory over American John Isner at the ATP Finals.
Djokovic believes Federer's contribution to the sport has warranted the preferential treatment and Benneteau has in fact profited from his rival's publicity.
“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.
“If he doesn’t have it, who is going to have it? People want to see him play on the centre 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 favoured 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.
“Julien and guys like him are also benefiting from tennis, because of Roger, because of what he has done for the sport.”
Isner added that the top athletes need to be put in the spotlight.
“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 said.
“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.”
