Roger Federer is not happy with the security at the French Open after experiencing a few alarming brushes with fans.
After beating Alejandro Falla 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday in the first round, a fan came on the court and tried to take a selfie with the Swiss master. Federer, caught completely off guard, was apprehensive to comply with the fan’s selfie request. He understandably was unsure of the fan’s motives and kept waiting for security to come over and handle the situation.
“I’m not happy about it, obviously not one second I’m happy about it,” Federer said afterwards. “It happened [Saturday] in the practice, too. And today on center court, where you would think this is a place where nobody can come on, just wanders on and nothing happens.
“So I definitely think this is [a change] that something needs to happen quickly. But obviously [I] want this to happen immediately. Normally I only speak on behalf of myself, but in this situation I think I can speak on behalf of all the players, that that’s where you do your job, that’s where you want to feel safe. But nothing happened, so I’m relieved. But clearly it wasn’t a nice situation to be in.”
The fan was detained and told he cannot attend future matches at the tournament. He also was sitting in box seats, which is how he had such good access to the court.
This is the third such incident for Federer at Roland Garros, which explains why he takes the matter so seriously. He had something similar after practice Saturday as he said, and a fan ran onto the court during one of his matches in the finals there in 2009. Plus, when you factor in that Monica Seles was stabbed by a fan who ran onto the court back in 1993, there is plenty of reason for Federer to be concerned.
Between this and the crazy online poster who threatened death, Federer can never be too careful.
