Roger Federer has revealed that Wimbledon fans on Centre Court were almost treated to a practice match between him and Novak Djokovic after both their opponents retired early.
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Federer led 6-3, 3-0 against Alexandr Dolgopolov on Day 2 when the Ukrainian withdrew with an ankle injury after 43 minutes.
Second seed Djokovic also advanced to the third round after Martin Klizan gave up after 40 minutes when 6-3, 2-0 down.
Federer said the idea had been floated of him taking on the Serb to give the crowd some compensation for their disappointment.
"When I went out, I felt like there was a bit of a letdown from the crowd. They couldn't believe that it happened again, exactly the same situation," said Federer.
"When I walked up, the chairman said: 'You guys should go and play for another set and a half.' I said: 'Yeah, let me go try to find Novak.'
"I found him in the locker room. I told him, Maybe we should go out and play another set.
"It's not going to happen. I feel for the crowd. They're there to watch good tennis, proper tennis. At least they see the two of us who gave it all they had. They saw other players that tried at least," he said.
Instead of the champions' clash, organisers opted to switch the women's match between former world number one Caroline Wozniacki and Hungarian Timea Babos to Centre Court.
Additional reporting by Reuters.
