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ATP Finals crowd slammed for booing Alexander Zverev

BBC's Annabel Croft jumped to the player's defence in a post-match interview: PA
BBC's Annabel Croft jumped to the player's defence in a post-match interview: PA

The O2 Arena were roundly criticised for booing Alexander Zverev after his semi-final victory over Roger Federer at the ATP Finals on Saturday.

The match ended on an unsavoury note due to an incident during the tie-beak when a ball boy dropped a ball during a rally.

Zverev rightly asked for a let but the Federer fans in the crowd were unhappy that the point was replayed.

READ MORE: Zverev beats Federer to reach finale in ATP Finals

READ MORE: Zverev apologises for tie-break controversy amid O2 Arena heckles

Sections jeered the 21-year-old as the BBC's Annabel Croft interviewed him on court, with Croft at one point admonishing the crowd for their reaction.

A clearly upset Zverev said: "Firstly I want to apologise for the situation in the tie-break but the ball boy dropped the ball, it's in the rules that we have to replay the point.

"I apologised to Roger at the net, he told me 'it's okay, it's in the rules'.

"I want to apologise to the crowd, Roger has a lot of fans here and for what he's achieved he should have. I'm very sorry that this happened I didn't mean to upset anybody - that's all I can say, sorry."

BBC presenter Sue Barker said she felt "quite embarrassed that a British crowd could put him through that".

Pundit Tim Henman added: "He's done absolutely nothing wrong. Once Federer understood the situation he totally accepted it, so to get that type of reaction is very disappointing.

"To be booing a young, talented guy like that is disappointing."