London: The bust-up between Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka at the ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday night became clearer as well-placed sources stated the two men found themselves “thrashing out their differences” in the O2 Arena’s gym after their semi-final match.
On Monday, US tennis legend McEnroe spoke of a locker room face-off between Federer and Wawrinka after their ATP World Tour semis. It has now come to light that Federer’s wife Mirka is the reason of the infamous row between the seventeen-time Grand Slam champion and the 2014 Australian Open champion.
Wawrinka and Federer reportedly understood to have argued late on Saturday after allegations that Mirka Federer called out and heckled Wawrinka following his serve during their match.
Wawrinka was serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set after which he complained about Mirka’s behaviour. Thereafter, Wawrinka failed to convert four match points – three of them in that critical service game at 5-4 before Federer scraped through 4-6, 7-5, 7-6.
McEnroe claims the post-match dispute meant Federer did not get immediate treatment on his injured back, which led him to withdraw from the season-ending final on Sunday.The tension was not fully resolved but they have agreed to concentrate on their shared goal of defeating France in the Davis Cup final, which starts in Lille on Friday.Â
There were also claims that French television had captured Wawrinka telling Federer that Mirka did the same thing at Wimbledon. The two champions spoke at length on court following their semi-final, but neither player revealed what was said.
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