Dominic Thiem branded the decision to cut his press conference short at Roland Garros to enable Serena Williams to take over the room a “joke”.
Thiem, who reached his first grand slam final here last year, was discussing his third-round win over Pablo Cuevas with German language journalists when he was told he would need to leave the room.
The fourth seed was understandably unhappy, saying: “I don’t really get it, seriously. What the hell? But it’s a joke, really. What’s the point of that, that I have to leave the room because she’s coming?”
Press Association Sport understands that, while Williams did not request for Thiem to be ousted, she was unwilling to wait for the Austrian to finish and the second interview room was also in use, leaving organisers in a difficult position.
The American was not in the best of moods having been beaten by Sofia Kenin in her earliest loss at a grand slam for five years.
Press facilities at Roland Garros this year are smaller than usual because of the redevelopment of Court Philippe Chatrier.
Players who refuse to do a post-match press conference are fined.
Roger Federer weighed in on the issue, saying he understood the Austrian’s annoyance but that they had been joking about it in the locker room.
Federer said after his fourth-round victory over Leonardo Mayer: “I don’t know what went wrong, but something went wrong for this to happen.
“I think there is, with all the players, (an understanding) the one who is still in the tournament gets priority. If I would have lost today against Mayer, I would let Mayer go first or decide when he wants to go to press as he’s got a next match. My next match is far, far away. So that’s just the way you go about it.
“There must have been a misunderstanding, or maybe they should have kept Serena still in the locker room, not waiting here in the press centre.
“I understand Dominic’s frustration. For him it’s just about how in the world did this happen? I don’t think he’s mad at Serena or anybody. I just think it was an unfortunate situation that I thought was funny and we joked about it just before.”
