Roger Federer recently received criticism on social media for some old quotes regarding Alexander Zverev after the German was controversially included in the Laver Cup line-up ran by the Swiss legend despite his upcoming abuse trial.
Fans had already expressed their discontent surrounding Zverev's inclusion in the line-up in Berlin as he prepares to go on trial accused of domestic abuse against his ex-partner and mother of his child, Brenda Patea. But the quotes by Federer pertain to 2021 when Zverev suddenly left Team8, the agency co-founded with his agent Tony Godsick. The German left after allegations surfaced surrounding his ex-girlfriend Olga Sharypova including at the Laver Cup in Geneva.
What drew the ire was Federer's response after being asked by Ben Rothenberg about the substance of Zverev leaving due to Sharypova's claims. "Well, I mean, of course I'm very close to Tony and Team8, but at the same time these are decisions that Tony takes, and the team. Look, Sascha is a great guy. I'm really happy for him when he does well. But I don't get involved in those types of decisions, to be honest... and all of the allegations, that's super private stuff that I really don't want to comment," the Swiss replied.
"Absolutely embarrassing from @rogerfederer . After decades of media training you would think he could at least come up with better answers than this shameful support of a man accused by 2 ex-girlfriends of domestic abuse," a fan wrote.
"This honestly shocked me more at the time than novak’s out right defense of him or rafa and the rest of the tour turning a blind eye," another wrote.
"Another reminder that Roger Federer was against equal pay for literally most of his career and changed his tune when the general consensus around equal pay started to favour equal pay across the board. When Venus and Serena were campaigning for equal pay, he was against it," a further fan wrote.
Here's my exchange today with Roger Federer (on Zoom from Geneva) on why Team8, the agency he cofounded with his agent Tony Godsick, split with Sascha Zverev suddenly last year, and if that was related to the abuse allegations against Zverev from his ex-girlfriend Olya Sharypova:
