Federer shuts door on "feud" with Benneteau

A sort of mini-feud has surfaced between the freshly retired Julien Benneteau and Roger Federer, and you know the matter has crossed a certain threshold when the likes of People magazine start covering it.

It began with Benneteau going on a French radio show to discuss his career in tennis, now complete at age 36, that diverted into a discussion about the complicated, conflicting interests in pro tennis. The likes of Laver Cup, Davis Cup, Craig Tiley and Tennis Australia, Nick Kyrgios and his Laver Cup appearance fee, court/stadium scheduling and more came into play in that conversation.

"Federer] delivered a couple of fascinating answers on the subject during his post-match press conference" in London's O2 Arena, where he is competing in the ATP Finals[, reports the Telegraph's Tennis Podcast. "David Law, who was in the room, describes how the atmosphere changed when Federer responded with a perfectly-timed silence and gave reporters a steely stare."

The 37-year-old was crystal clear that he'd rather focus on the ATP Finals, where he's set to play an undefeated Kevin Anderson in his final round-robin match on Thursday.

"The radio interview that happened over a week ago that surfaces now in French, Julien, who is a nice guy, I know him since the junior times, I think all of this has been totally taken out of context,"Federer said. "I don't feel like I need to comment on this. I'd rather put it to rest rather than adding to it so you guys got something to write about."

Pushed further, Federer went to bat for himself and others: "I get asked, 'Would you like to play Monday or Tuesday?' sometimes. Sometimes I get asked, 'Do you want to play day or night?' Sometimes they go ask my agent. Sometimes they ask me, you know, Asia wants you to play at night. Yes, sometimes we have our say. But I asked to play Monday at the US Open and I played Tuesday night. Sometimes I get help, sometimes I don’t... But a lot of the facts are not right, just to be clear there, from what I heard."

Tiley came to Federer's defense, and to a degree his own, on the subject, as did Novak Djokovic in London. The world No. 1 noted that even as Federer at times receives a measure of preferential treatment–in Melbourne, where the Swiss is a six-time champion—it's warranted. Players such as Benneteau have themselves profited in their careers off of how Federer has raised the profile of the sport and pushed for more for players.

"People want to see [Federer] play on the center court, and they want to see him play in showtime, the best hours, which is 7:30 at night in Rod Laver Arena," Djokovic said. "I really don't see a very strong argument there."

Much has been made of Tennis Australia's decision to close the roof on Rod Laver Arena for January's championship-round bout between Federer and Marin Cilic, though the temperature on court had not yet called for that, per tournament rules.

Cilic, likewise in London, was asked about the "feud" and about that final in Melbourne:

"I was just not happy at the end of the tournament in Australia because they changed the rules,"Cilic said. "That was the only part that didn’t go well by the referee’s side. I don’t think they were going one way or the other, for me or for Roger. I felt that in that part they need to be consistent."

Others in the tennis world have weighed in, including Jon Wertheim, of Tennis Channel and Sports Illustrated, in his weekly SI Mailbag.

"In a perfect world, Federer plays a match or two on an outside court so those other than the fat cats can watch him," he wrote, adding later, "To me, the lede was buried here. The story alleges that the Australian Open tournament director received payment from the Laver Cup. Wait, what? Inasmuch as that’s true, that’s a flagrant conflict of interest, even by tennis’ limbo bar standards."

Expect more words to be exchanged between players, and between the playing pros and the media pros, on this matter.

Follow Jon on Twitter @jonscott9.

This Week on Tennis Channel:

ATP Finals (Sun - Sun 11.11 - 11.18) - Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and the world's best collide in the season Finale. Live coverage begins on Tennis Channel Sunday at 7:00am EST.