Roger Federer tells tired Jo Konta to accept late matches at Aussie Open

Since his debut here in 2000, the Swiss tennis statesman has routinely gone to bed past 2am, 3am or even 4am after finishing draining matches in Melbourne.

Konta, 27, is set to fly home to the UK having exited the second-round of the Australian Open at 3.15AM on Friday!

The clash with Spanish star Garbine Muguruza didn’t start at 12.30am local time because the men’s match beforehand went five long sets and because there was SEAGULL POOL on another alternative court.

Only a 100 or so fans were still around on the Margaret Court Arena once Konta’s elimination was confirmed.

But Federer accepts that being burning the midnight oil is part and parcel of the first major of the year.

Federer, 37, said: “For the people in the stadium, and there was a few, you know, they were happy.

“People on the TV, they were still happy that tennis was going on.
“Is it ideal? No, it's not. But sometimes what can you do if you schedule a men’s match before, and that thing goes four, five hours? It can happen.

“I don’t know what other choices you have. You could move them on an outside-court but then the atmosphere might be quite sad.

“It is what it is, and they also played a long match. You just deal with it. You move on.

“You know that’s not going to happen again. They’re going to try to help you out with scheduling the next time you play maybe later in the evening again. The tournament tries to accommodate that kind of situation.
“I also went, after the first day, I didn’t even finish so late, but I also went to bed at 3.15am or 3.30am. It’s just what we do."

Federer cruised into the fourth round with a straightforward 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 win over American Taylor Fritz in just 88 minutes.

He now plays the dangerous Greek kid Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Last 16 on Sunday as he continues his pursuit of a 100th career title.
Heed Your Hunch with Betway and get a £30 free bet when you sign up at Betway


Source: Read Full Article