Roger Federer is one of the most decorated players in the history of tennis but one of his former peers believes his style of play lacks entertainment.
Marcello Rios, who played the Swiss Maestro twice on the Tour back in 2002, says Federer is less appealing to watch compared to the likes of Nick Kyrgios or Fabio Fognini. Two players who can get highly animated during matches at times and have been involved in various controversies. During an interview with ESPN journalist Ricardo Shannon, the Chilean continued his outspoken remarks by adding that he also doesn’t find it entertaining to watch Novak Djokovic in action before branding the sport as ‘boring like cricket.’
“Federer for me is not a player that you see and you say ‘how entertaining’. I like the way he plays because he’s a guy with incredible ease, very intelligent on the court, very good. But he is not a Kyrgios, a Fognini that you see him and you are waiting for him to make a fuss, to leave a mess. That’s more entertaining”. Clay magazine quoted Rios as saying.
“I don’t find Djokovic an entertaining guy on the court either,” he added.
Rios’ comments are somewhat unsurprising to those who are familiar with his career. After winning the 1997 Monte Carlo Masters, he said during the trophy ceremony that the prize money didn’t even cover his losses from a casino he visited the previous week. In other incidents, he was once disqualified from the Mercedes-Benz Cup in Los Angeles for verbally abusing a chair umpire and also took a swipe at the WTA Tour by saying “winning a Grand Slam is easy for girls.” A Sports Illustrated article referred to him as ‘the most hated man in tennis.’
However, Rios also managed to have a successful career. He won 18 ATP titles, including five Masters 1000 events, and was ranked No.1 in the world for six weeks.
Criticizing the rules currently implemented in the sport regarding players’ behaviour, he has paid tribute to Kyrgios for what he describes as ‘revolutionizing’ the system. The Wimbledon finalist has beaten every member of the Big Three and has proven to be a popular figure among tennis fans. Although he has been fined on numerous occasions for poor behavior and was once issued with a suspended ban.
“Tennis has always had restrictions. If you swear, you get a fine; if you throw your racket, another fine. In press conferences you couldn’t talk bad things about anyone. Wimbledon makes you dress in white making you look like I don’t know what,” the 47-year-old said.
“Tennis is boring, it’s like watching cricket. Then a guy like Kyrgios comes out and revolutionizes everything. He packs stadiums, it’s a spectacle. My personality was also a bit ‘wrong’. I used to attract a lot of attention by throwing racquets, or by saying ‘old fuck’ (to an annoying lady in the crowd). People were entertained.”
Rios recently had a short stint of coaching after working with China’s Juncheng Shang before their collaboration ended abruptly. Shang previously said his former coach was ‘disrespectful’ towards him but the exact details of what occurred haven’t been publicly disclosed. As for Rios returning to coaching in the future, it looks very unlikely.
“No. I wouldn’t coach anyone else, although if Federer calls me I couldn’t say no. I would even look after his babies.” He concluded.
