MADRID/BASEL – Roger Federer may be regarded by some as the best tennis player in history, but the world number one is beginning to get an uncomfortable taste of criticism in his home country of Switzerland.
“On the court he plays like he is out of this world, but outside he is more earthly than we would like to admit. Somewhat imperfect and very human,” the Swiss daily Tages Anzeiger recently wrote.
What is the criticism? It could be summed up with reference to too much love of money and too little commitment to the Davis Cup, the tournament which sees players compete in teams for their countries.
Federer's trip last week to his home town, Basel, to play in its traditional indoors tournament, was bitter, and not just because he lost the final against Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in the third-set tie-break.
In the corridors at St. Jakobshalle, the headquarters of the medium-level tournament in the home stretch of the season, there were astonished comments on Federer's alleged new requirements to play at the event again next year. The 31-year-old star has upped the stakes for a tournament at which he was once a ball-boy.
Over the past four years, Federer got 500,000 dollars per edition of the tournament, tax free, beyond the official prize money. Tournament sources told dpa that he is now seeking to multiply that premium by four, to 2 million dollars per year, although Swiss media are reporting 1-1.5 million dollars.
“We are not Qatar,” Rene Stammbach, president of the Swiss Tennis Federation, recently warned.
Tournament director Rogger Brennwald agreed.
“We will do everything to ensure Roger Federer keeps playing at Basel. But we do not have inexhaustible possibilities. Maybe we can no longer keep up. Not everyone can afford a Rolls-Royce,” he said.
Federer, who has played the event's last seven finals and won five, denies that money issues are the problem.
“If I was running only after money, I would have made many other decisions, played throughout Asia. I have always given priority to Basel. I have already helped the tournament a lot. Because of that the onus is more on (Brennwald) than on me,” he said.
Basel's viability as a medium-level tournament rests largely on Federer. Without him, spectator and sponsor figures would go down drastically, and Federer knows that.
And it is also true that he has given up many millions of dollars over the years by playing in his home town to the detriment of Asian tournaments or lucrative exhibitions at around the same time.
In Switzerland, people also slam Federer for his attitude regarding the Davis Cup: he says he dreams of winning the prestigious nations tournament, but he hardly ever plays it.
The Swiss Federation had to move the February 2013 first-round clash against the Czech Republic from Basel to Geneva, because Federer hinted that playing in his home town put too much pressure on him to play.
Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland's number two, recently admitted his disappointment.
“I really can't understand him,” Wawrinka said.
And Marco Chiudinelli, the country's number three and a very close friend of Federer's, told dpa that it is most unlikely that Federer will play the tie.
“I don't think we can convince him,” he said.
Federer's manager Tony Godsick told the Tages Anzeiger that the tennis legend plans to be very selective in the future, because, since the London Masters has moved back, playing for three consecutive weeks in Basel, Paris and the British capital might not be the best idea.
“We're going to wait and see,” Godsick said.
But the Tages Anzeiger drew its own conclusions.
“After the demands of an Olympic year, Federer seeks to plan intelligently, with a view to extending his career as far as possible. He seems to be contemplating no longer giving his city's tournament top priority. As already happened in recent years with the Davis Cup.” – Sapa-dpa