Roger Federer claim WITHDRAWN by Stefanos Tsitsipas: ‘I don’t want to drag him into this’
ROGER FEDERER saw his status as one of the greatest tennis players of all-time questioned last night, as Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed that the Swiss received privileges from an umpire.
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Roger Federer, who won his 101st ATP title at the Miami Open on Sunday didn’t have a chance to respond to the claims before his Greek counterpart withdrew the comment.
Tsitsipas had claimed to umpire Gianluca Moscarella on Saturday that he hands the 37-year-old privileges.
He was asked about the comment on Twitter on Sunday, and decided that using Federer’s name specifically was wrong.
He said: “Roger Federer is always going to be my favourite player no matter what.
“I don’t want to drag him into this. It’s not his fault or intention.
“It’s the umpires that are trying to protect them more than they are supposed to. Nothing more than that.”
The quotes came just hours before Federer beat John Isner to lift the his fourth Miami Open title, with Tsitsipas repeating the controversial statement.
He added: “I think players that have been doing really well over the years, players that are generally much respected in the tennis world have privileges when it comes to certain rules and umpire decisions.
I felt this couple of times when playing these guys
“I felt this couple of times when playing these guys and I think it’s a bit unfair.”
The original claim came after Tsitsipas reached the final of the men’s doubles alongside Wesley Koolhof in Miami after crashing out of the singles at the round of 16 stage.
The 20-year-old, who beat Federer at the Australian Open in January, made the stunning claim about his rival during the eventual defeat to Mike and Bob Bryan.
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The Greek asked Italian umpire Moscarella: “Why are you giving them so many privileges?”
Moscarella responded: “It’s not a privilege, they have the right to do it, it’s all I can do.”
“The feeling that I have is that you’re giving them privilege like you do with Roger and everybody else,” Tsitsipas added.