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March 3, 2003
Control is key for Federer
By Eurosport
Could 2003 be Roger Federer's year? The 1998 junior champion finally seems ready to fulfil his immense potential after winning Dubai and Marseille. The Eurosportnews Guest of the Week explains how keeping his cool on the court has helped him make the transition to the top...
Accused in the past of sometimes lacking determination, Federer displayed skill, power, grace and, above all, a steady temperament to defeat Czech giant Jiri Novak in straight sets in Sunday's final in Dubai. Up by a set, the 22-year-old Swiss found himself down 3-1 in the second, but clawed his way back to take the match on a tie break.
In the past he admits that it would not necessarily have been so. "There was a time when I had a lot of problems with not being mentally strong enough," admitted Federer. "At first everything came so quickly for me. I won the junior title at Wimbledon and people were coming up to me and saying 'you are going to be the next... whatever'."
"It was all new to me and I found myself getting frustrated when things didn't go my way. It's true that I had some attitude problems. I was too hyper and intense on court and I would lose too much energy between rallies."
"If you look at my matches now, compared to three years ago, they are very different."
That Federer has enough natural talent to become a champion has not been in question since he first emerged on the circuit, as a gifted, flashy and perhaps at times arrogant kid from Basel. "There was no pressure on me at the start," he explained. "I'd just go out there and hit the balls, it didn't really matter."
SAME STAR SIGN...
Then Federer became known, and life began to get harder. "People would talk about me as the new (Pete) Sampras. Suddenly there was pressure on my shoulders and other players knew all about me."
"I think it was a bit hard on me to be compared to Sampras (at such a young age). He has achieved so much in his career and I was just starting out. Maybe we are both very relaxed on court, we have the same technique and we use the same racket. We also share the same star sign but I would say we are very different players."
Federer may not be ready to fill Sampras' boots just yet, but his upsurge in form could hardly have been timed better for Swiss tennis, which is still reeling following the shock retirement of former World No 1 Martina Hingis. "It is a shame that Martina quit. It is unbelievable but you have to respect her decision," said Federer.
"Martina was always my favourite player to watch. I really enjoyed her game because she had fantastic skills. I enjoy talking about Martina because I practiced with her, I played doubles with her in the Hopman Cup where we won. It's a real shame that Martina isn't around any more." Hingis may have gone but it might not be that long before Switzerland is able to boast a new world champion.
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