Interview With Roger Federer
Interview With Roger Federer
ROGER FEDERER
TIM CURRY: Thanks, everyone, for
joining us today for our media call with Roger
Federer. The world’s top-ranked player is joining
us from Cincinnati where he is the No. 1 seed at
this week’s Western & Southern Open.
Since the Emirates Airline US Open Series
began in 2004, Roger has won more Series
tournaments than any other player, male or female,
with six titles. And in 2007, Roger collected the
biggest paycheck in tennis history, $2.4 million for
winning the US Open and the US Open Series,
$1.4 for winning the US Open and $1 million bonus
for doing so as Series champion.
Roger is making his 2012 Emirates Airline
US Open Series debut this week in preparation for
the US Open where he will start his quest for a
sixth title two weeks from today.
With that being said, we will open the call
for questions.
Q. Novak Djokovic won the Australian
Open and Rafa Nadal the French Open, you
Wimbledon, Andy Murray the gold medal.
Would you consider this year’s US Open to be
sort of a tiebreaker to the tournament of who
has had the best year?
ROGER FEDERER: Obviously it gives
you a direction, yes. But you have the ATP World
Tour Finals at the end of the year and there’s still a
lot of tournaments to play for like Shanghai and
Paris, so forth. It’s not just only I think the US
Open, otherwise the winner wouldn’t play the
remainder of the year. I think that’s not going to
happen.
It is interesting, obviously, that three
different guys have won three different majors this
year, plus Andy the gold. It definitely sets a great
tone for the US Open, there’s no doubt about that.
Q. I’m wondering if you have had the
time or taken the time to analyze what
happened at the gold medal match. It was so
lopsided, so out of the character, not what
we’re used to seeing.
ROGER FEDERER: Honestly it took me
five minutes to analyze really. I didn’t need to kind
of sit down and go in a dark room and cry over it
and kind of understand what happened. I think I
understood rather quickly what happened.
I thought Andy played a good match. The
beginning of the match was very close. I had
some chances there. Had some chances in the
second set. I think I missed nine breakpoints, I
didn’t make one. That obviously doesn’t work in a
big match like this against a great player like Andy.
Once he was in the lead, obviously he did really
well to keep the lead.
Yeah, I think that was it for me. Maybe I
was emotionally drained a touch. Maybe I was a
bit tired from the Del Potro match. I thought Andy
did really well to put the pressure on me. It was
out of character for me to lose nine games a row in
the finals. That’s obviously something that can
happen, but I guess I got myself to blame, and
Andy’s great level of play.
For me, I moved on really quickly. I was
happy for him and disappointed for me. I was still
very happy to get the silver and the medal for
Switzerland.
Q. Could you look back to Wimbledon
a little bit? Everybody always tries to retire
players when they hit 30. It seems like the
game is skewing a little older now.
ROGER FEDERER: I think you’re right. I
mean, I think over 30 players in the main draw of
the French Open. Seeing, for instance, how well
Tommy Haas is playing, how many of my
generation are still playing and playing well, it’s
nice to see really.
I remember when I was coming up on tour
how many great rivalries we had in the younger
generation. When I came up, we came up,
basically there was still Agassi, Sampras, Moya,
Henman, you name it, all the older guys that made
the tour work.
I think we had so many great young
players coming up, it’s nice to see so many guys
are playing well, holding on and winning titles
really.
I think it’s really good times in tennis. Like
you say, you have the older generation, you have
the generation of Rafa that’s extremely strong as
well, and now the new generation is coming
through as well with Bernard Tomic, Milos Raonic,
David Goffin, Kei Nishikori, all those guys. It’s
good times in tennis right now. But I do hope we
get even some more better younger juniors coming
through in the next couple years.
Q. With a longer-than-normal grass
court season in 2012, such a short turnaround
to prepare for New York, do you think it’s
tougher to make the switch from grass courts
to hard courts this season? What are the
precautionary measures you might implement
to ensure you can stay healthy now?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, there’s no
doubt about it, this is not an ideal preparation. I
mean, it’s amazing, for instance, what Novak was
able to do. It’s not impossible, but it’s just very
hard on the body and mind to travel halfway
around the world, go on a different surface, win,
then back it up week and week again. Obviously,
the US Open is only coming up. That hasn’t even
started yet.
It’s been tough. In the past you would take
maybe a few weeks off for a top player, then
prepare for three brutal weeks on hard courts, then
come over here wanting to fire out of all cylinders.
This year it’s different. Obviously we
stayed on grass. Now all I have is four days on
hard courts before I play my first round here
probably against a top 30 player or top 40 player.
It makes it obviously very difficult and a big focus
for me to get through my first-round match over
here.
Obviously physically I feel fine. The body
did hurt maybe the first couple of days just
because the movement is a bit different. But I
think everybody has a bit of issues like that in the
beginning. So it’s just important to be professional,
sleep enough, eat healthy, do all your treatment
the right way, all that stuff, so you will manage the
next like over six months on hard courts now.
That’s the most brutal surface out there. It’s a big
stretch coming up for all of us really.
Q. You just said that physically you
feel fine. How do you feel mentally and
emotionally going into this year’s US Open as
opposed to last year? Can you look back a
little bit on last year’s Open.
ROGER FEDERER: I’m very excited, very
happy. Back to world No. 1. I’ve had a magical
summer for me. Really ever since the French
Open, it’s been a good year all around anyways,
but winning Wimbledon, getting back to world
No. 1, there’s been so many things happening for
me, it’s been a wonderful last few weeks.
I feel like I’m feeling better than last year
because I was a bit shaken up against the loss by
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, and even through Montréal, it
was a tough situation. Cincy I didn’t play all that
great, lost to Tomas Berdych. I came into the US
Open not quite sure of how I was playing. I was
actually playing really, really well. I had that brutal
match with Novak, up two sets to love.
I feel like this year mentally I’m more at
peace. Then again, that doesn’t give you any –
how do you say – idea yet of how you’re going to
do at the US Open and Cincinnati. We all have to
wait and see how that goes.
Q. You mentioned about reclaiming the
world No. 1 spot in the ATP world rankings.
You surpassed Pete Sampras’ record by doing
that this summer. At your age, at this time in
your career, how important is it to you to keep
surpassing records like those of Pete’s?
ROGER FEDERER: I don’t know how
important it really is for me. I just think it’s a
motivation, a big one, for me to be able to have the
opportunity to reach such great records, you know,
equal, tie and break records like these. It
obviously kind of gets you going.
It motivates me to play against younger
generations. It motivates me playing in front of full
stadiums. All these things add to the great puzzle
and life I’m living as a player. It makes easier, all
the sacrifices, all the traveling, playing we do on a
daily basis.
But it’s not most important. But obviously
it’s a nice thing to have and one I hope I will be
very proud of once I retire.
Q. The US Open has record prize
money again this year, $25.5 million. You’re
somebody that travels all around the world.
Can you tell us if you’ve seen how the
economy has affected different places? I
imagine pro tennis players are insulated
because the tournaments take very good care
of you as you travel. But can you talk about if
you’ve seen any change in how places have
been affected by the economy over the last few
years.
ROGER FEDERER: By ‘places’ you mean
tournaments, right?
Q. Yes.
ROGER FEDERER: I think we’ve gone
through the crisis – who knows, maybe there’s
another crisis on the horizon here – actually pretty
good, considering how bad the economy was from
2008 till now. We’re obviously trying to sign on
some sponsors during that time for the tour
because we lost Mercedes and others. I think
we’ve actually gotten through this financial crisis,
economic crisis, really well.
I think also, obviously because it’s a
one-week or two-week event, you have an entire
year to look for ways trying to make your
tournament sustainable. Obviously you hope that
they had long-term contracts. Obviously some did
get unlucky, that the contracts ran out right at the
time that you didn’t want it to run out. Obviously
then it was a dangerous and difficult situation really
for those.
They asked the ATP for relief, the council
and board. That’s what we discussed and tried to
make it a good decision for the tournament but
also for the players, because you want to keep the
jobs alive for all those players, that they can travel
the world and still make money and have all those
possibilities to play tournaments.
Overall we’ve gotten through this pretty
good. Yeah, we hope it’s a successful tour, and I
feel it is.
Q. Could you address the fact that a
couple weeks ago they announced that
Wimbledon in 2015 will move into the summer
an extra week, so there would be three weeks
of grass court play prior to it.
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I think it’s a
great thing. I think it was very well-received from
the players. From what I heard, everybody was in
favor of it. Think back at how the tour used to be.
We used to have three Grand Slams on grass, and
now we only have one. We barely have one
month of tennis on grass.
Obviously it’s nice to keep that surface
alive a bit more. It gives just a bit of a bigger rest
between the French Open and Wimbledon, so that
completely makes sense.
Obviously, you have to understand every
change brings problems from time to time. But I’m
happy that Wimbledon and the US Open were able
to sort out that kind of a situation because it wasn’t
an easy one for the US Open, but a very good one
for the players. I think Wimbledon is excited about
it, too. I think it has many more upsides than
downsides to it.
Q. For those of us who weren’t at
Wimbledon for the Olympics, how different was
it? Was there anything you missed that you
would normally have at Wimbledon? Anything
you liked about the Olympics?
ROGER FEDERER: Yes, many things I
missed from the Wimbledon tournament. I guess
you also felt that it was just a completely different
event. Those things we thought we were very
nice, then other things we had to get used to.
I think it was nice we had to adjust, that it
was a completely different feel from Wimbledon to
the Olympics. I think overall it was a well-run
tournament. At times it almost felt like the site was
too big for the Olympics. I can only speak from
experience from Sydney, Athens and Beijing.
They all created the stadiums for the Olympics.
They were not as big, obviously, as Wimbledon.
Hardly any is, except for the US Open.
I thought it was great to have such a big
site, but at times it was too spread out, I thought it
was. Then again, it didn’t change the fact that we
had great atmospheres in the stadiums, that it was
a very unique place to play tennis at where there is
so much history.
Q. When your girls were born, you
spoke about wanting to be around the game
long enough for them to be aware of who you
were as a tennis player and what you had
accomplished. What do you think their sense
is now, because they are a little bit older, and
what do you and Mirka tell them?
ROGER FEDERER: It was really Mirka’s
wish more than mine. I’m just happy I’m still
playing and things are still going so well for me,
that I’m actually able to feed them almost on a
daily basis. That’s what I was worried most with
Mirka. Maybe with having twins, it was going to
get extremely difficult to travel the world with them,
see them enough, that it was not going to actually
worry.
It was really Mirka’s dream to have them
still see me play from time to time. We’ve already
had that now. So I don’t know exactly what they
think of me. As their dad, they know I’m a tennis
player, that I do play a lot of tennis, but I don’t think
they understand that it’s actually a job. They don’t
understand, I think, the difference between a
match and practice.
It doesn’t matter. They sit in stadiums.
They’ve created obviously some of the most
unique moments in my life, having seen them, you
know, at let’s say trophy ceremony in Basel, trophy
ceremony particularly at Wimbledon this year.
Those are memories no one can ever take away
from me and Mirka. That was a very intimate
moment for me and Mirka even though it was in
the eye of the storm with everybody watching.
It was a great, great feeling for me. I hope
they also look back and were happy we did those
things. We really try to protect them as much as
we can. Life on tour is good with them. I’m happy
the way things are going.
Q. Do you want them to play the game?
ROGER FEDERER: Not necessarily, no.
If they really, really want to, I’ll support them. If
they don’t, I’m very happy they do something
different, as well.
Q. There’s been a lot of talk over your
records. There’s two that don’t get a lot of
attention. You’ve never retired from a match
once you started plus you’ve played every
Grand Slam since 2000. What pride do you
take from those?
ROGER FEDERER: I wonder how many
close calls I’ve actually had to retire during a
match. Maybe a handful where I was just thinking,
man, I’m in too much pain, I maybe actually
shouldn’t be playing. But I can just play, or I have
so much pain, but I know I won’t injure myself
more. It was more kind of like some of those
moments.
Obviously playing the consecutive Grand
Slams, you don’t really think about it. I’ve never
actually entered a Grand Slam just to enter to keep
that streak going. I guess I was always lucky
enough and prepared enough to feel like I could do
something and play well or even at times obviously
win very often at Grand Slams. So that’s not one
thing I thought about.
But every match I play, not retiring after a
match for me, that’s something that’s almost
normal. If you do enter, you’re supposed to be
playing. I’m happy also I’ve played schedules from
always January till November basically. I’ve never
taken a full season off after the Open. I’ve never
taken more than, what, eight weeks off from the
tour. I’m obviously proud of this.
Then again, it doesn’t mean that much. I
know other players have many more problems
trying to do that all the time and some just can’t
because it’s not possible with their body or they’ve
gotten unlucky much more than I have over the
years.
I think I’ve taken great care of myself and
mentally I’m very strong to be able to handle all of
that, I do believe.
TIM CURRY: Thanks, everyone, for
joining us. Roger was kind enough to give us
some of his time. We appreciate you doing that,
Roger.
ROGER FEDERER: It’s been a pleasure,
guys. See you.
Topics: American tennis news, Cincinnati tennis news, Federer, roger, Roger Federer, Sports, Swiss tennis news, Tennis News, Timmy Curry
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