Roger Federer has snapped at claims he told US Open officials he wanted to play the first match on Arthur Ashe against Dan Evans and inadvertently hampered the British player.
Federer won his second-round match on Wednesday under the roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium while Evans had to wait 24 hours before playing his match.
In Friday’s order of play, Federer and Evans were placed to go head-to-head first on Arthur Ashe.
And in the hot conditions, Evans failed to produce his best and was beaten by Federer in just 80 minutes 6-2 6-2 6-1.
After the match, Evans admitted to feeling tired and Greg Rusedski claimed on Amazon Prime that Federer had requested to play first.
When this suggestion was put to Federer, the Swiss icon responded angrily and hit back at such suggestions he directly influenced the scheduling.
He said: “Not really. I don’t remember that I asked for something. Yeah, yeah.
“It’s maybe nice to be out of the sun, as well, I don’t know, I thought. But I definitely didn’t do it intentionally.
“I don’t even know if the team asked for day. I know there was questions to have a preference.
“But that doesn’t mean like, ‘Roger asks, Roger gets.’ Just remember that, because I have heard this s*** too often now.
“I’m sick and tired of it, that apparently I call the shots. The tournament and the TV stations do.
“We can give our opinion. That’s what we do. But I’m still going to walk out even if they schedule me at 4:00 in the morning.”
Moments before Federer’s outburst, Evans suggested the tournament had favoured the Swiss by seemingly granting his request despite the quick turnaround.
He told reporters: “It’s tough on me, isn’t it? But that wouldn’t be the first time the higher-ranked player has had pull, so to speak.
“But also, these guys, the tournament obviously want Roger, would rather Roger be going through that match than me, so it’s understandable, yeah.”
