Roger Federer is renowned as one of the calmest players tennis has seen. However, he once lost his cool with the umpire during a clash against Alexander Zverev. He had multiple run-ins, arguing with the umpire about a point penalty.
Federer met Zverev in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Shanghai Masters. The latter secured a rather lopsided first set 6-3. The second set went into a tiebreaker after the Swiss icon saved three match points. He held on to win the tiebreak and level the match. The German wrapped it up 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3 after dominating the decider.
Federer continually argued with chair umpire Nacho Forcadell, beginning from the second set tiebreak. The constant squabbling may have played a role in his abject surrender of the third set and subsequently, the fixture.
It began deep in the tiebreak of the second after an incredible return from Zverev that got him to match point no.5. Federer received a code violation for ball abuse after swatting the ball in frustration. He recovered to save the point and ultimately bag the set.
In the middle of the third set, he again hit the ball towards the audience, albeit with much less force. Forcadell noticed this and handed him a point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Federer, however, was not pleased, saying it was struck mildly and asked for clarification on the rules.
The umpire said he was penalised since he hit the ball out of the court to where it may not be found. He said Federer had previously hit the ball hard onto the net in frustration, to which the player retorted by saying he should have been informed that he was already on thin ice.
During the changeover, after Zverev took a 4-1 lead, Federer again asked about the rule which got him penalised. He directed Forcadell to get to the point, saying that code violation was bothering both of them.
“What’s the rule, huh? What are we talking about? Butterflies? What are we talking about? The ball. There is one thing right now in this world that is bothering the both of us, that.”
The 20-time Grand Slam winner argued further with the chair official over the intensity of his hit into the stands. Their disagreement took all the attention from the match as it went on for a long time.
Roger Federer also argued about ball changes in the match against Zverev
Early in the third set, after having been broken once already, Federer expressed his discontent with Furcadell. He implored the umpire to remind him of ball changes so he could switch his rackets accordingly. He said he was missing shots as a result, following which the Spanish official apologised.
However, Federer broached the topic again during the next changeover, saying that is the one thing a chair umpire is expected to do for the players. He claimed a majority of the referees do not remind him of ball changes.
Forcadell tried to make his case, saying he talked about the ball switch at the beginning of the set and again a few games later. Federer countered saying that was ’10 minutes ago’ and that he ended up suffering because of this. The Spaniard conceded his mistake, presumably to end the discussion, and apologised once more. He said he did not want to interrupt and assumed the Swiss did not wish to change rackets. Federer accused all officials of being similarly lax for his entire career.
This spat was one of the few moments where Roger Federer lost his cool. Zverev, however, pushed past this and secured a runner-up finish in the tournament.
