Roger Federerās classy act after opponent attacked by crowd
<p>Roger Federer has defended his opponent Alexander Zverev after the Swiss tennis championās fans booed Zverev on Saturday as he beat Federer in a stunning victory at the ATP finals.</p>
<p>Zverev, 21, beat the 20-time grand slam champion fair and square 7-5 7-6 (7-5) as he claimed his third victory after his sixth meeting with Federer, but the monumental occasion was overshadowed by the booing of the crowd.</p>
<p>Federer, who took charge of the match, was beating Zverev by one point with the score at 4-3, but after a ball slipped from a ball boyās hand into Zverevās line of vision, the 21-year-old stopped the play mid-rally.</p>
<p>When the point was replayed, Zverev served an ace.</p>
<p>After the controversial moment, Zverev obtained a few more points causing Federer to lose the match, which is no easy feat.</p>
<p>But Zverevās victory wasnāt welcomed by Federer fans as his on-court interview was drowned out by loud boos from those who believe the young tennis player's win was unfair.</p>
<p>Speaking to reporters, Federer said: āLook, I understand the frustration. Itās just unfortunate circumstances.</p>
<p>āBooing, I never like it. We see it in other sports all the time, but in tennis itās rare.</p>
<p>āSo, when it happens, it gets very personal and we take it very direct. I think itās unfortunate that this happened. Sascha doesnāt deserve it.</p>
<p>āHe apologised to me at the net. I was like, āBuddy, shut up! You donāt need to apologise to me here. Congratulations on a great match and a great tournament so far.ā</p>
<p>āHe didnāt do anything about it. He just called it how it was. He felt it affected play. There is a rule that if something like this happens, obviously you replay points.ā</p>
<p>Federer mentioned how he approached the ball boy to find out if he had dropped the ball.</p>
<p>āHe said, āYes, I did drop the ball.ā From that standpoint, itās okay, no problem, that happens. Itās all good. I hope he doesnāt have a sleepless night. Itās not a big deal at the end of the day. This is life, this is sport. Definitely not mad at him. Itās all good,ā he said.</p>
<p>But despite Federerās support, Zverev said the reaction from the crowd left him disheartened.</p>
<p>āI was a little bit sad at the end with the booing and reaction of the crowd,ā he said.</p>
<p>āI was very emotional afterwards. The booing went into cheering kind of afterwards, which kind of helped me.</p>
<p>āI was really upset afterwards in the locker room, Iām not going to lie. I had to take a few minutes for myself.</p>
<p>āBut, you know, I hope the crowd and the people who were booing maybe look at what actually happened, maybe just realise that Iāve maybe not done anything wrong.ā</p>
