Roger Federer chose to miss former client Alexander Zverev’s Wimbledon match in favour of sitting on the smaller Court 1.
Zverev took on Britain’s Cameron Norrie to open play on Centre Court on Saturday. But eight-time champion Federer decided to attend the resumption of Ben Shelton’s contest with Denis Shapovalov.
The German tennis star was previously signed to Federer’s TEAM8 management agency. But they parted ways in January 2021.
Federer has been hanging around the All England Club all week, enjoying his new role as a fan. His wife was seen watching Jannik Sinner’s match against Matteo Berrettini on Wednesday night and their twin boys have also been out in the stands.
But the man himself finally came out to watch a third-round clash between Shelton and Shapovalov, which opened play on Court 1 after being rained off at 3-2 in the first set the previous day. Federer was seen seated alongside fellow retired player Tim Henman, who also sits on the AELTC board. He was later joined by his parents.
It was an unusual choice considering that No. 4 seed Zverev was taking on home hope Norrie on the main show court, with their match starting half an hour later than the resumption of Shelton vs Shapovalov.
Zverev was previously represented by TEAM8, the agency co-created by the Swiss star. The Olympic champion signed on with the Federer-backed company in mid-2019 following a dispute with his previous manager.
But less than two years later, he confirmed his departure from TEAM8’s books, also splitting with former coach David Ferrer around the same time. The world No. 4 has also competed at the Laver Cup -Federer’s brainchild tournament – on four occasions and will join Team Europe again this year in Berlin.