LONDON TENNIS FINALS ALSO CALLED ” MIRKA GATE ” , IT WAS JUST SUCH A WEIRD WEEK & IT ENDED WITH A WALKOVER ?

Written by: Staff on 8th December 2014

LONDON TENNIS FINALS ALSO CALLED " MIRKA GATE " , IT WAS JUST SUCH A WEIRD WEEK & IT ENDED WITH A WALKOVER ?

epa03761725 Mirka Federer watches her husband Roger Federer of Switzerland take on Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine during their second round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 26 June 2013. EPA/TOM HEVEZI |

Tidbits : We have sat in many player boxes. The players coaches , guests , families are all very , very stressed . It’s the best seat in the house. But it’s also the worst seat in the house. We have sat with Mirka many times. She rarely says anything. Every once is awhile she says let’s go Rogi or Allez Roger. We saw what happened Saturday. But for real we throw the blame Severin’s way. It was very un – Swiss of him to sit in Roger Federer’s box when he is playing Stanley Wawrinka ! He needed to Find a neutral seat somewhere where neither guy could even see him . Stay in suite and watch on tv.? We feel Severin thru off the dynamics that night. We know that Mirka and Roger are very gracious with their busy lifestyles. They are travelling the world with two sets of twins with the style and grace of the Federer clan. No complaints ever. Just always looking positive and forward. The best comment about the uproar was Roger who said Stan should have closed out the match at 5-3. What a classic. What a class act.

Editors Notes from 10sballs.com. We have closely observed many live and televised matches that Cedric has sat in the umpires chair. We have never seen one that he has really done well. When he is in the chair you can be assured his ego and personality can factor in. He had no business discussing any of this. Not with Stan on court or afterwards. We hope the “powers that be “realize the big chair Cedric should sit in also wears the hat that says ” dunce “

London Umpire Accused Of Speaking Out Of Turn

The ongoing Mirkagate story took another twist as umpire Cedric Mourier confirmed Roger Federer’s wife caused the now accepted bust up between the winner of 17 Grand Slam titles and his Swiss Davis Cup team- Stan Wawrinka in Saturday’s Barclays ATP World Finals semi-final.

Both Federer and Wawrinka criticized experienced French official Cedric Mourier for speaking out, maintaining he broke protocol by giving an interview on the incident that resulted in the pair being ushered into the neutral ground of a gymnasium at the London 02 Arena to sort out their differences in a ten minutes long exchange of views.

Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka reacts after breaking Switzerland’s Roger Federer during the ATP World Tour Finals semifinal match at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 15 November 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN

However Mourier told the Swiss website 20 Minutes: “I noticed Stan was getting irritated when he was at the same end as Roger’s team. I asked him what had happened. He said: ‘She talked to me.’ And I realized he was upset with Roger’s wife.”

Federer and Wawrinka used last evening’s scheduled Swiss press conference in Lille to show unity before the action commences in the Davis Cup final against France on Friday.

But the much publicized disagreement was the root of most initial questioning. Federer was the first to attack Frenchman Mourier saying: “The umpire is not allowed to do an interview in the first place. If he mentions my wife’s name or not, it doesn’t matter.”

Wawrinka was no less enamored by Mourier, one of the most experienced officials in the game who has umpired four French Open finals at Roland Garros. The Swiss no.2 and world no.4 added: “I’m not sure he’s allowed to talk.”

Australian Open champion Wawrinka followed up by questioning Mourier’s handling of the entire match, specifically an overrule early in the third set that Federer did not hear and was proved by Hawk-Eye to be errant: “I don’t think the umpire was doing great job,” he said. “As you can see also at the beginning of the third set with the overrule and everything, it was quite a mess already.”

Switzerland’s Roger Federer returns to Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka during the ATP World Tour Finals semi final match at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 15 November 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN

However there was no denial from either Swiss that their private row behind closed doors did take place. “We had a conversation,” confirmed Federer. “Everything’s totally relaxed about the situation. We’re old enough. I just wanted to see if there was any hard feelings because it was probably one of the loudest moments of the match, around 5-4, 5-5 score [in the final set], clearly a lot of noise.

“Like I said, there are no hard feelings whatsoever. We are friends, not enemies. But obviously it was maybe one of those moments, heat-of-the-moment situations.”

Wawrinka followed on by saying: “Little things can happen. But for us it’s not that important. We talked about it just afterwards so that we would make sure it wouldn’t become important.”

Now Federer is just hoping his problematic back improves sufficiently for him to play Friday’s initial singles but the chances of him playing three days running, so partnering Wawrinka in Saturday’s doubles, seem slight.

Practice time has been impossible for Federer on the specially laid clay court at Lille’s Stade Pierre Mauroy and Federer said: “I wish progress would be faster, but we’re trying hard.

“I feel it’s definitely a little bit better than it was on Saturday night and Sunday and also Monday. I wish I could be on the practice courts, but I can’t be there yet. I’m hopeful for tomorrow.”

However Federer harped back to Saturday’s match and attempted to joke: “Stan should have finished that match at 5-3. I wouldn’t have had a back problem and we wouldn’t have had the situation we had.”

Switzerland’s Roger Federer embraces compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka following his three set win during the ATP World Tour Finals semi-final match at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 15 November 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN

Content via Bob Larson news services

Topics: Federer, London tennis, Mirka, Mirkagate, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

November 21, 2014 at 3:54 pm

#LONDON #TENNIS FINALS ALSO CALLED “#Mirkagate”, IT WAS JUST SUCH A WEIRD WEEK & IT ENDED WITH A WALKOVER?- http://t.co/TNq56ZykZm #Federer
RD_Tennistalk says:

November 21, 2014 at 6:00 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: #LONDON #TENNIS FINALS ALSO CALLED “#Mirkagate”, IT WAS JUST SUCH A WEIRD WEEK & IT ENDED WITH A WALKOVER?- http://t.co/T…
10sBalls_com says:

December 3, 2014 at 10:24 am

LONDON #TENNIS FINALS ALSO CALLED “#MIRKAGATE”, IT WAS JUST SUCH A WEIRD WEEK & IT ENDED WITH A WALKOVER?- http://t.co/TNq56ZykZm
10sBalls_com says:

December 8, 2014 at 7:58 pm

#LONDON #TENNIS FINALS ALSO CALLED “#MIRKAGATE”, IT WAS JUST SUCH A WEIRD WEEK & IT ENDED WITH A WALKOVER?- http://t.co/TNq56ZykZm