Roger Federer is one of the greatest-ever tennis players and arguably the most recognisable face in the circuit currently. Despite that, the six-time Australian Open winner Roger Federer was denied entry to the players’ lounge by steward Jolly Roger during the ongoing edition. Federer as always remained calm and waited for his Croatian coach Ivan Ljubicic, who was carrying his accreditation to arrive. The 20-time Grand Slam winner was then allowed to enter the lounge and he casually obliged without making a fuss.
The official Twitter handle of Australian Open shared the video of the incident.
Watch it for yourself:
Even @rogerfederer needs his accreditation #AusOpen (via @Eurosport_UK)
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2019
According to AFP, security around the Australian Open is always tight and if you don’t have an ID you’re not getting in.
Ageless defending champion Federer, earlier on Friday, marked his 100th match on Rod Laver Arena by storming past American Taylor Fritz 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 in the third round.
Federer blitzed the young American from the start, barrelling through the first set in just 20 minutes.
Federer will continue his quest for a record seventh Australian Open title against Greek 14th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last 16.
The Swiss maestro has won the last two tournaments at Melbourne Park in a late career resurgence and on this form will be hard to stop from extending his all-time record with a 21st major victory.
Federer, Novak Djokovic and Roy Emerson have all won six Australian Opens – although the Australian great’s victories all came before the Open era.
(With AFP inputs)
