Roger Federer’s role as the leading statesman of the locker-room was highlighted once again, as he delivered consolation and advice to the tour’s fastest-rising star Alexander Zverev.

Zverev, the 20-year-old German who has climbed to No 4 in the world, had been devastated to lose to his near-contemporary Hyeon Chung in five sets, and thus continue a dreadful record at the majors. After 11 of these best-of-five set tournaments, he has yet to beat a top 50 player.

But as Zverev admitted in the interview room afterwards, he had received some words of reassurance from Federer – the one player he has always looked up to – in the aftermath of his defeat.

Federer later expanded on the conversation, saying “I just thought some nice words would maybe cheer him up, get him over the loss a few hours earlier. He looked crushed when I saw him. I gave him a tap on the shoulder and said, ‘C'mon, it's not too bad. It could be worse.’

“I said, ‘Be patient about it. Don't put yourself under unnecessary pressure. Learn from these mistakes. Whatever happened happened. Unfortunately you have to believe in the process you're in right now. You're working hard. You're doing the right things. It's maybe not paying off at the slam level, but just stay calm, don't dig yourself in a hole.”

Federer’s intervention came before his own third-round match, which developed into an eye-catching duel of backhands with stylish Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

On a humid evening, Federer was made to sweat for what seemed the first time in the tournament, but still came through by a comfortable 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 scoreline. “We both played a good level,” he said, “so it was fun.”

While Federer was lighting up Rod Laver Arena, Novak Djokovic had to make do with Melbourne’s second-string stadium – Margaret Court Arena – for the second straight match. The scheduling didn’t seem to bother him too much, though, as he put in another textbook performance to dispose of Albert Ramos-Vinolas for the loss of just eight games: 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.

The only worry for Djokovic’s fans came when he called the trainer to the court, to work on what looked like a sore hip. “It's nothing major to be concerned about,” he said afterwards. “I’ve never faced a situation where I didn’t compete for six months. It's just things that surface every day.”

Earlier, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares were frustrated to have been eliminated from the men’s doubles by the Indian pairing of Leander Paes – who remains a force at the age of 44 – and Purav Raja. The Indians closed out a 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 victory after saving a match point in the third-set tie-break.

Afterwards, Murray and Soares, who are the doubles representatives on the ATP Player Council, were asked about the prize-money debate that has rumbled away in the background of this tournament.

“I think the players deserve a better percentage of the revenue,” said Murray. “I think seven per cent is not a lot of the share of the pie.

“Ultimately we can’t do anything. That’s why the players get frustrated with the whole grand slam situation because we don’t have a seat at the table. The players get well paid at the grand slams, of course, but that’s not really the point.”

 

Source: AFP