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November 14, 2004
Roger Federer Fanletter November 2004
By Roger Federer
Dear fans
What a terrific feeling! I am 100% fit just before Houston and my thigh-injury
has healed completely. I was very fortunate as it didn't bother me during the
process of recovery thanks to the great work of my team and the decision to
take
this break. I now know that it has been the right thing to do.
It was one of the most difficult moments in my tennis-career so far. All the
spectators and fans were eager to be part of my first appearance as the world's
number one at my home tournament in Basel. I was also looking forward to the
event immensely - returning to the Swiss Indoors where I had worked as a
ball-boy
10 years earlier, respectfully passing balls to stars like Stefan Edberg or
Wayne
Ferreira. The tension amongst the tournament director, the journalists and the
sponsors - just about everyone - was enormous. Then, suddenly, the bad news:
a torn muscle-fibre in my left thigh. Competing was absolutely out of question.
I had to inform tournament director Roger Brennwald of the news only a few
hours
before my opening match. But the thing really bothering me was how to explain
it to my fans. They had all looked forward to this so much, how would I tell
them that I was unable to play in Basel due to an injury? I ended up saying to
myself that the easiest thing would be getting across what I felt like inside;
expressing my huge disappointment and my annoyance about the situation. So I
went out there and talked to the many fans and I had the impression that they
understood. I am very glad that the Davidoff Swiss Indoors 2004 ended up being
a big success with many great matches and a very sympathetic champion, Jiri
Novak.
There has been a lot of discussion lately about the large number of top-players
cancelling their participation in tournaments like Madrid, Basel and Paris. I
have also been asked if I have an explanation and whether I see a solution for
improving the situation. Tennis, like all other sports, is very demanding for
a professional athlete. Even the more so for top-players as they usually play
several rounds in a tournament. But we know this and have to learn to deal with
the tournament schedule. Every player has to decide for himself how much is
feasible.
I, too, had to learn to make rational decisions even if my heart wanted the
opposite,
like not playing in Basel.
My diary
Let's go back to the last exciting moments since my fantastic victory at the
US-Open. By the way, it is terrific to see that a large number of new fans in
the United States have joined our community since! I visited Hollywood and then
flew off to Hong Kong where I gave interviews to the Asian media for an entire
day. I appeared in shows for CNBC, CNN and ESPN/Star Sports TV and was
interviewed
by the Wall Street Journal Asia as well as the world's largest newspaper,
Japan's
“The Yomiuri Shimbun”. To be honest, the discussions with the Asian journalists
on topics on and off court were pretty demanding. I can definitely say that
I've
learnt a lot. I was pretty whacked after the non-stop media-marathon from 8.30
in the morning until 15.30 in the afternoon. But it certainly looks like the
effort was worth it - my interviews are going to be repeated on CNN until
Christmas!
After the stopover in Hong Kong I flew on to Bangkok. Just like so many times
before, this year it all added up perfectly in Thailand. I didn't have too much
trouble defeating Andy Roddick in the final 6:4, 6:0 - tournament victory
number
10 this season. It was also a special experience to see the enthusiasm of the
spectators in Bangkok. The whole week seemed to be one big party. Most games
were sold out with over 10'000 fans and the run for tickets for the semi-finals
and the final was immense. Hundreds or even thousands of spectators could only
follow the matches on a big screen outside the stadium. It is certainly
terrific
for us players to see our sport booming at such a rate in Asia. In my opinion
that is also one of the reasons why having the Masters Final in Shanghai again
for three years as of 2005 is great. It is also up to us athletes to promote
our sport on a global level and take responsibility as ambassadors - especially
in Asia.
After the victory in Bangkok I was finally on my way back home via Dubai. Mirka
and I had spent a total of six weeks travelling - from the end of August up
until
the beginning of October. I enjoy travelling a lot but after a trip around the
world you do feel like a couple of days at home! I wanted to take enough time
to prepare for Madrid and Basel, show a good performance in Paris-Bercy and top
it all off by trying to repeat my victory in Houston. Well, I guess you all
know
what happened then…
My goals for 2005
As you already know I have one major goal for 2005: defend my number one
position.
I have already planned the coming season together with my management and we
have
defined the tournaments for the first half: Doha, Australian Open, Rotterdam,
Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome, Hamburg, Roland Garros, Halle
and Wimbledon. The Grand-Slams obviously have kind of a special status within
all of these tournaments. Who would not want to win them? The 'threepeat' in
Wimbledon would certainly be something extraordinary. But I definitely don't
want to focus uniquely on winning the Grand-Slams, all the other tournaments
are important as well. Unfortunately there is a consequence of planning my
season
this way: I will not be able to play the first Davis-Cup round for Switzerland.
The dates for this round have been moved by a month from February to March.
This
is exactly the period during which I will be competing in Rotterdam, Dubai,
Indian
Wells and Miami, simply making it too much for me. It was definitely a very
hard
decision to take but my injury this autumn due to fatigue was a strong
influence.
In my heart I have the strong desire to play, to go out there and take on the
Dutch with my team-mates, to cheer for my country. Experiencing team-spirit on
court is certainly something that I miss in tennis. But my common sense said
no to my participation in the first round. For the moment I want to leave open
what my involvement in the second round will be. I can only say that chances
are I will be there, even after a victory against Holland, which I think my
mates
are very well capable of achieving. In my opinion there are many arguments for
renouncing the first Davis-Cup round. I nevertheless kept asking myself how my
team-mates and fans in Switzerland would respond to my decision - and they were
great! As far as I can see the team-members as well as the tennis fans show
much
understanding. On the one hand they are disappointed, but they understand me.
And that's what counts most for me.
Making a difference
All bad things also have a good side to them: The break I had to take these
last
weeks finally gave me the necessary time to dedicate myself to my Foundation.
We organised a charity event during the Swiss Indoors and were able to gather
CHF 110'000.-. It is incredibly motivating to see how much I can achieve. For
this reason I want to spend more time with activities related to the Foundation
in 2005, helping children in South Africa and supporting gifted, young athletes
all over the world. I will also travel to South Africa in the first quarter of
the year in order to see the impact of the projects in Port Elizabeth myself.
Furthermore, I have agreed to become an ambassador for the UN's “Year of
Sport”.
I am absolutely convinced that sports can help overcome prejudice and build
bridges
between cultures and nations. If I can make a contribution to this I am more
than happy to do so and am very much looking forward to the task.
www.rogerfederer.com
I am always thrilled to see the amount of traffic on my website and also seeing
how the number of registered users is increasing constantly - we have almost
reached 14'000! I love reading all the comments and discussions and catch
myself
smiling every now and then doing so.
I would like to thank you for your loyalty and your interest in my person as
well as all my activities. We have therefore decided to set up an entirely new
concept. All I want to say for the moment is this: be prepared for plenty of
great stuff next year!
Dear friends, I have to focus on the last matches for the season in Houston
now.
I'll give you a next update in Decemeber.
Take care, bis bald, à bientôt
Your Roger
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