Travel Blog

If you’re going to introduce night matches, it’s probably best not to do it when there’s a national curfew. Saturday evening Roger Federer, who for over a year has missed playing in front of fans almost as much as fans have missed seeing him, battled it out till after midnight in a mostly empty stadium. (Coaches and assorted officials were allowed to watch.) You wonder how much of a role this injustice – not to mention NBC’s lame decision to put the match on Peacock – played in Federer’s decision to withdraw from the tournament the following day.

I think a little less of Federer because of his decision. He entered the tournament saying he didn’t expect to win it, which I thought, in addition to showing a great grasp of reality, demonstrated a certain amount of gamesmanship. He was quite honest that he saw the tournament as a necessary warm-up to Wimbledon, the grand slam he has the best chance of winning again. But I didn’t expect that, victorious and uninjured after three matches, he would quietly withdraw. It shows a lack of respect not just for the French Open, but for the other players. He said that, after two knee surgeries last year, he needs to take care of his body, which the three-and-a-half hour match on Saturday definitely wore down. But it would have been more honorable to let his opponent win on Saturday, so he could advance and provide some competition for Berrettini, who now gets a bye and, depending on your thinking, receives some much needed rest or, because of the layoff, loses his rhythm. Either way, Federer, by his selfish decision, has affected the outcome of the tournament.

Serena Williams is also gone, having lost to Elena Rybakina. That she fell to a woman many casual fans had never heard of illustrates the problem she faces trying to get that elusive 24^th Grand Slam title (to equal Margaret Court): There are a number of women on the tour now who hit as hard as she does, and there are tons who move a lot better.

As for NBC – if they’re not going to televise the marquee matches on weekends, do they have to prevent the Tennis Channel from doing so? All week the TC does a wonderful job, particularly when Brett Haber and Paul Annacone are announcing. But getting the rights and then putting the match of a legend on its streaming service is reprehensible.