Photo : Joe Toth/PA
Reporter: “Congratulation on your victory!”
Player: “I lost.”
Reporter: “Could you please tell us about your fitness and your confidence level?”
Player: “For your information, I just lost. I didn’t win.”
Moderator: “She didn’t win.”
Reporter: “She didn’t win?”
This surreal scene isn’t from a bad comedy movie but from a real-life Wimbledon presser.
It’s the type of awkward moment that doesn’t happen a lot, but even once is too often.
A good interview requires preparation, whether it’s an in-depth one-on-one or a packed press conference. And most journalists do indeed prepare.
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Except on the rare occasion when they don’t and end up with egg on their face.
Like on July 7, at Paula Badosa’s press conference after she retired from her match against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine due to a back strain and pulled out of the mixed doubles event she was signed up to compete in with her bf Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.
In all sports, the reporters who attend press conferences should at least be aware of the athlete’s performance before asking them a question.
And if by fate or misfortune a journalist goes into an interview unprepared, it’s best to just stay quiet. There will always be better-informed colleagues in the room to extract enough information.
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Taking a proverbial page from Mark Twain’s book: “It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.”
But the incident at Wimbledon was neither the first nor the last such gaffe.
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The most notorious blunder happened at the 2017 Miami Masters, when a reporter got her winners confused and mistakenly congratulated runner-up Rafa Nadal. Always a gentleman, he still answered her question.
Watch it here:
Whirlwind week for Roger Federer
He was here, there and everywhere.
He retired last fall, but Roger Federer was still front and centre on the eve and during the first week of the Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, where he collected a record eight winner’s trophies in his career.
Read also: Examining Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray’s Dominance at Wimbledon
In Switzerland and in England, on the stage and on the grass, Roger has made so many appearances of late that he’s been taking up just as much media space as when he was still playing.
And maybe even more.
If you haven’t been following the man some still consider to be the GOAT even though he’s been surpassed by his two fiercest rivals, here’s a rundown of his most recent comings and goings.
It all started on July 2 when he joined Coldplay on stage in Zurich. Singing isn’t his game, but he still played a mean shaker.
The next day, he was spotted spending time in London with a fellow new retiree, none other than Elton John, at one of the Rocket Man’s final performances on his farewell tour.
By Tuesday morning, Roger was all smiles on Centre Court at Wimbledon in the company of the Princess of Wales. From the royal box, he received a standing ovation worthy of his achievements.
HRH and Fed seem to get along swimmingly. Two weeks earlier, they hit a few balls together at the AELTC, met with ball girls and boys and even appeared in a video highlighting their work.
And on July 8, he rocked out with the Boss, who even posed for a photo as Bruce STRINGsteen (sorry, it was too easy.).
Roger Federer has created an aura that will make him a sought-after and beloved figure for many years to come. And that’s exactly why his sponsors stay loyal to him and continue to extend significant sums to link their brands to his.
What goes around comes around
At Wimbledon, Daniil Medvedev breezed through his third-round match against Adrian Mannarino.
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It was their second skirmish in three weeks and sweet revenge for the Russian after his stunning second-round upset in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, even though he was the one who hit the shot of the match: a magical half volley with so much slice that it spun right back to him.
All Mannarino could do was give a round of applause.
It was actually a bit of payback for the Frenchman, who pulled off something similar against David Goffin in Astana, Kazakhstan, in October 2022. That time, Mannarino’s shot was a return, which was quite a feat.
Suffice it to say the Belgian didn’t take it as well as Adrian did against Medvedev.
Separated at birth (10)
It had been on my mind for the past year and a half.
Who did Roman Safiullin—the man who kicked Denis Shapovalov out of the fourth round of Wimbledon—remind me of?
When he emerged at the ATP Cup in January 2022 against the very same Denis and Félix playing for Canada, Safiullin seemed so familiar. But I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
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On July 9, my wife found the answer just a few seconds after she caught sight of him.
Jude Law.
Elementary, my dear Watson, as Sherlock said to Law himself, who plays Dr. John H. Watson in a recent installment of the London detective’s adventures.
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Email: privard@tenniscanada.com
Twitter: @paul6rivard
Follow all our Canadians in action here.
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Félix races into round of 16 of Madrid as Mensik retires due to injury
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