Wimbledon 2017: When Federer and Djokovic toyed with the idea of a practice match
Wimbledon fans with Centre Court tickets suffered the disappointment of seeing the opponents of title contenders Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic retire early in their matches – but they might have been given a bonus contest between the pair.
Seven-times Wimbledon champion Federer led 6-3 3-0 when Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov withdrew with an ankle injury after 43 minutes. Earlier second seed Djokovic advanced after Martin Klizan gave up after 40 minutes when 6-3 2-0 down. Federer said the idea had been floated of him taking on the Serb to give the crowd some compensation for their disappointment. “When I went out, I felt like there was a bit of a letdown from the crowd. They couldn’t believe that it happened again, exactly the same situation,” said Federer.
“When I walked up, the chairman said: ‘You guys should go and play for another set and a half.’ I said: ‘Yeah, let me go try to find Novak.’ “I found him in the locker room. I told him, Maybe we should go out and play another set. “It’s not going to happen. I feel for the crowd. They’re there to watch good tennis, proper tennis. At least they see the two of us who …read more
