During an interview in 2018, former French pro Julien Benneteau accused Roger Federer of receiving special treatment from tennis authorities. He claimed that Federer used his status to get favorable match schedules at the Australian Open in 2017 and 2018.

Benneteau also accused tournament director Craig Tiley of showing bias towards Federer. However, Federer denied these accusations when asked about them during a media interaction at the ATP Finals.

He clarified that while he was sometimes asked about his preferred playing times, the final decisions were made by the tournament organizers.

• “I am often asked if I would prefer to play on Monday or Tuesday. Sometimes, they inquire whether I would like to play during the day or at night. Occasionally, they approach my agent for scheduling. There are times when they directly ask me, mentioning that ‘Asia wants you to play at night,'” Federer explained.“I do have some input at times. For instance, I requested to play on Monday at the US Open but ended up playing on Tuesday night… Sometimes I receive assistance, while other times I do not… However, many details are inaccurately reported, just to clarify,” he concluded

Novak Djokovic and Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley both supported Roger Federer when he was accused of getting special treatment at the Melbourne Slam.

During the 2018 ATP Finals, Djokovic mentioned that Federer deserved any “special treatment” he received due to his success in Melbourne. Djokovic also stated that he did not find Julien Benneteau’s argument very convincing.