Roger Federer has played down comments he received preferential treatment on the Tour, and in particular, at the Australian and US Opens.
The 37-year-old Swiss chose not to flame the remarks made by fellow player Julien Benneteau, saying the Frenchman’s comments were taken out of context.
“I don’t feel like I need to comment on this. I’d rather put it to rest rather than adding to it so you guys got something to write about,” he told a news conference.
Benneteau was referring to the Australian Open where he said 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer played “12 or 13” of his 14 matches at Melbourne in the past two years at night, so avoiding the often scorching temperatures.
Federer was then asked whether his agent Tony Godsick had ever demanded Federer only be scheduled on Arthur Ashe court at the US Open – a claim reportedly made by Benneteau.
“I get asked, would you like to play Monday or Tuesday sometimes. Sometimes I get asked, ‘do you want to play day or night?’ Sometimes they go ask the agent. Sometimes they ask me, you know, ‘Asia wants you to play at night’,” Federer said.
“Yes, sometimes we have our say. But I asked to play Monday at the US Open. I played Tuesday night. It’s all good. Sometimes I get help, sometimes I don’t.
“But a lot of the facts are not right, just to be clear there, from what I heard.”
The six-time champion put a troubled start to his 16th ATP Finals behind him as he outclassed Dominic Thiem 6-2 6-3 on Tuesday to stay on course for the knockout stage.