By Chris Oddo | Sunday May 24, 2015

Federer: Not happy about the selfie - ESPN Video

Roger Federer’s well-documented run-in with a selfie-starved kid on Court Philippe Chatrier Sunday led to some well-deserved criticism for the tournament and its organisers, courtesy of the Swiss maestro himself.

After his straight-sets win over Alejandro Falla on Day 1, Federer was approached by a cell phone wielding youngster who attempted to take a selfie with Federer. It took several seconds for tournament officials to curtail the kid, and when they did he was not immediately detained--instead they sent him off to roam the court’s perimeter (though he was eventually caught up with, interviewed and sent packing).

Federer, who had his 2009 final with Robin Soderling interrupted by a prankster named Jimmy Jump, was quick to express his disappointment.

“I'm not happy about it,” he said. “Obviously not one second I'm happy about it. It happened yesterday in the practice, too. It's just a kid, but then three more kids came. And today on center court where you would think this is a place where nobody can come on, just wanders on and nothing happens.

“Happened during the finals in '09 as well for me. So I definitely think this is something that something needs to happen quickly. Basically yesterday already. Not now, you know. But obviously 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. And so clearly I'm not happy about it. But nothing happened, so I'm relieved. But clearly it wasn't a nice situation to be in.”

Federer, who will face Spain’s Marcel Granollers in round two, says he spoke to Gilbert Ysern, the tournament director about it. “Gilbert Ysern already came and apologized to me, and we had a quick conversation,” he said. “I just told him what I think needs to happen. I told him about yesterday, as well, which he didn't know about. Yeah, I'm sure they will take the necessary steps now, but this doesn't only mean for this tournament for this year; it means for all the tournaments we play all the years coming up. We need to make sure that it's safe out there and people don't just wander on the court like a free pass, you know. That's how it's supposed to be.”

But Ysern, who gave a press conference about the incident, doesn’t really seem to be grasping the full breadth of the issue. He says that there was simply an error in judgment that led to the selfie quest gone bad.

He also said that nothing needs to chance with the tournament’s security protocols.

“I won't react to his comments, I will react to the facts,” he said. “Of course his comments made sense. He was pissed off with what happened in court. He has good grounds for being unhappy. Well, I prefer to react to what happened. I think, well, some extent it's not the end of the world. Of course we should not make too big a case of that, but it's embarrassing, of course, for Roland Garros, when something like that happens.”

Ysern went on to say that his people need to understand that nobody is allowed on the court under any circumstances—he felt that somehow the security in charge during the incident believed that the situation was harmless because it was a seemingly innocent teenager on the court.

“At this stage there is no reason for us to change the security procedures,” he said. “They are organized; it was just a lack of judgment this afternoon. Clearly the security people who were on court did not do the job the way they should have done, of course, to say the least. Again, it's a question of lack of judgment from them, and -- well, we all know in tennis, like in other sports, the current approach consists in having the players -- the crowds close to the players, you know, looking for signatures, autographs, and pictures, selfies and all that. Again, I think that's where the lack of judgment this afternoon lays. I mean, the instinct and direction of security people must have been that it was something that was acceptable, which is clearly not.”

While some players were quick to back Federer, others saw it as a harmless distraction that they’d prefer not to put too much thought into. “Was that an aggressive move?” Asked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga when the press asked him about the event. When he was told no, he replied: “So that's is it. End of the story.”

Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis had some fun with it, when it was his turn to talk to press. “When they come I'm going to react,” he said. “Maybe if somebody is big I'm going to run. Maybe if somebody smaller I might stay.”