Roger Federer appeals to security after a spectator tries to take a selfie on the court.(Photo Jason Cairnduff Reuters)
PARIS It wasn't the first day that tournament officials were hoping for at the French Open.
Yes the favorites won and no none of that famous Parisian rain forced any delays but two minor controversies involving two of the game's biggest stars cast a cloud of frustration over the tournament.
To start Roger Federer expressed his unhappiness with the tournament after a fan ran onto Court Philippe Chatrier following his win and attempted to take a photo with the 17 time Grand Slam champion. The kid putting his hand on Federer's shoulder was not apprehended by guards until after having made physical contact with the star who kept him at arm's length.
I think I can speak on behalf of all the players that (the court is) where you do your job that's where you want to feel safe a terse Federer told a packed press room after the incident. And so clearly I'm not happy about it. But nothing happened so I'm relieved. It wasn't a nice situation to be in.
Another not so nice situation involved Federer's countryman Stan Wawrinka the 2014 Australian Open champion. Wawrinka who also won Sunday was the subject of an article on the official tournament website that appeared Saturday evening and speculated about alleged relationships in his personal life.
The article also said the Swiss star may have trouble concentrating against his first round opponent Marsel Ilhan because Ilhan's last name is akin to Wawrinka's ex wife's first name Ilham. The article stayed online for about two hours before being taken down.
(It was a) completely stupid article said Wawrinka when asked about it Sunday. It's (the) official website of a Grand Slam so I hope the guy who did that article is not a journalist. I also hope the guy who is supposed to check all the article(s) on the website is not working anymore for the tournament. Because for me for a Grand Slam website it should be an article about the tennis and that's it.
A French Tennis Federation spokesman said the author of the article had been fired.
I saw the article last night (and) I told the tournament that I wasn't really happy about it and I don't think it was great for the tournament to do that (expletive) article Wawrinka said. But after that you know I'm here to play tennis and to focus on my game. I can put that on the side and that's it.
USA TODAY
Roger Federer has scare with fan on the court at French Open
Tournament director Gilbert Ysern addressed the security concerns in a press conference late Sunday afternoon saying a lack of judgment not general procedural issues were to blame for the security breach involving Federer.
I'm not going to tell you I'm happy with what happened this afternoon but honestly at this stage there is no reason for us to change the security procedures Ysern said. They are organized it was just a lack of judgment this afternoon. Clearly the security people who were on court did not do the job the way they should have done.
Ysern also spoke about the Wawrinka article addressing the issue in a French language interview with reporters.
Nobody is perfect. Everybody aspires to excellence but excellence doesn't mean perfection he said in French. We might miss something. We missed that yesterday. That's true. Controlling this is complicated. It's complicated to control all levels but we have to do this. When we missed this yesterday we tried to catch up. Of course we got rid of the (article) and that's all. Everybody has faults. We have to admit it.
GALLERY Best of French Open
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