PARIS — Dominic Thiem isn’t sure whether Serena Williams or French Open officials were to blame for their press room incident over the weekend, but said he is ready to move on from the episode after it “made a big round in all the social networks.”
Thiem had to abruptly end his postmatch interview Saturday and was replaced by Williams, who had just been eliminated from the tournament.
“I don’t know if it was her mistake or only the mistake of the officials,” Thiem said Monday, after beating Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the French Open quarterfinals. “I don’t know if she saw me, or saw someone was in the room. If she’d seen me, it would have been nicer for her to wait.
“I had an apology [from tournament director Guy Forget]. I don’t know whose fault it is exactly. It was just a very strange thing, I never had something like that before. I’m easy-going. Of course it was strange, but I’ve forgotten it now.”
The fourth-seeded Thiem, who was back in the main room Monday, said he understood Williams’ desire to get her media responsibilities done as fast as she could.
“She lost and everything,” he said. “So I think it was a little bit mistake of her, mistake of the officials, but as I said, it’s forgotten.
“It was a funny thing, strange thing, which made a big round in all the social networks, but now I don’t put any attention on it anymore.”
After beating Pablo Cuevas in four sets Saturday, Thiem was addressing the media when he was asked to leave the room by an official.
He was quickly replaced by Williams, who arrived 10 minutes early for her media obligation after losing in straight sets to Sofia Kenin.
A frustrated Thiem said: “What the hell? It’s a joke really. What’s the point of that, that I have to leave the room because she’s coming?”
In an interview with Eurosport Germany on Sunday, Thiem said Williams showed a “bad personality” and argued the top men’s players would not have done the same thing.
“I wasn’t angry or frustrated, maybe for a couple of minutes or so. It’s just the principle,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it is me who sits in there. Even if a junior is in there, every player has to wait. It is a matter, of course. It also shows a bad personality. I am 100 percent sure Federer or Nadal would never do something like that.”