A young fan’s run onto center court to get a selfie with Roger Federer infuriated the tennis great following his first-round match at the French Open Sunday, Fox Sports reported.
A fuming Federer addressed the security lapse after his win, saying, "This should never happen on the Philippe Chatrier court. I'm not happy about it. Obviously not one second I'm happy about it."
The boy, who climbed from the stands and ran onto the clay court, put his hand on the 17-time Grand Slam champion’s shoulder and tried to snap a selfie photo of the two using his cellphone.
The incident happened as Federer was walking off the court.
"I'm not happy about it."- Roger Federer
"It's true for all players that you have to feel safe when we play, feel safe on the courts," Federer said. "It shouldn't happen too often. It's happened twice in two days."
Federer said another incident happened Saturday, when several young fans approached him during practice. He said no one on the security team reacted.
Regarding Sunday’s incident, Federer spoke angrily of the security guards who took several seconds to react.
"You know, it's not just being there, standing there on the courts wearing a nice tie and suit. It's not that funny, you know," he said. "I hope that there is going to be a reaction from the tournament."
The incident also brought to mind the April 1993 attack on then-No. 1-ranked tennis player Monica Seles, who was stabbed in the back during a tournament in Germany.
"My head whipped around towards where it hurt and I saw a man wearing a baseball cap, a sneer across his face. His arms were raised above his head and his hands were clutching a long knife. He started to lunge at me again. I didn't understand what was happening," Seles wrote of the incident in her 2009 autobiography “Getting a Grip.”
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