Controversial stuff in Melbourne.
Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils were rather upset to play during the day session under extremely hot conditions. Probably the organization thought that their match was probably not “selling” as much as other matches and therefore Nole and Gael had to follow the scheduling. On another side, Roger Federer had the possibility to play again during the evening in much better conditions.
Why Roger was scheduled again during the evening.
It’s pretty clear that Roger is the best-selling guy and making him to play during the evening would capture the peak of the audience in Asia Pacific and Europe. In addition, we all know that the more Roger is playing a tournament, the more spectators the event can score. This concept was also stressed by Andy Roger in a recent tweet
“Let’s not pretend like this isn’t a business. The longer Roger is in an event; the more eyeballs are on screens, the more ad/sponsor money in etc ……. so yes, they will listen to what the stars have to say. It’s sensical.”
Let’s not pretend like this isn’t a business. The longer Roger is in an event, the more eyeballs are on screens, the more ad/sponsor money in etc ……. so yes, they will listen to what the stars have to say. It’s sensical https://t.co/3Nn4eeMjd5
— andyroddick (@andyroddick) January 18, 2018
Jimmy Courier went tough on Roger
During the on-court interview, Jimmy Courier put Roger on the spot to ask if he asked to play during the night and if Roger has more leverage than other players. Roger replied
“There are maybe 60 guys asking for stuff, so I am one of those guys.
Possibly [I have more leverage in scheduling than others] but it’s not my call it’s their [tournaments] call, there is a guy like Novak, other guys, the Aussies. I am happy I didn’t have to go night to day, and I stay in the same rhythm, but I wouldn’t have minded playing day today, but sure it’s helpful to play at night on a day like today.”
Was Courier a bit too tough with Roger to ask this question on court?
