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Thursday February 17, 2005
Federer: “My opening matches are never that exciting”
By ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
Many
people believe him to be the best player ever. Moreover, the lyrical
praise lavished on the Swiss has not gone unnoticed - the Ahoy’ sports
complex was completely sold out yesterday, as the Dutch came to see the
phenomenon that is Roger Federer for themselves.
Although
the world’s best player demonstrated his superlative talent, he also
made mistakes during his first round encounter with Bohdan Ulihrach
(6-3, 6-4). “This is an important tournament for me, so I was lucky to
draw Ulihrach. I needed some time to get used to playing indoors again.
The court is a little slower than I’d expected. On the whole, my
opening matches are not that exciting. Instead, my game tends to
improve as the tournament progresses.” Yesterday’s match was Federer’s
first since losing to Marat Safin in the semi-final of the Australian
Open. A truly legendary encounter that the Russian eventually won 9-7
in de fifth set. The loss proved quite a blow to the Swiss: “I had
become so accustomed to winning that I found it quite difficult to come
to terms with losing.” Federer not winning a title took a little
getting used to, also for the Swiss. To give himself the opportunity to
clear his head, he spent the last few weeks with his friends or on the
ski slopes. Federer had an outstanding season in 2004, winning no less
that eleven tournaments, including the Australian Open, Wimbledon, the
US Open and the Masters Cup. He lost only six matches. “People sung my
praises and many said that I’d become unbeatable. I wouldn’t say that
losing in Australia has taken a load off my mind. Instead, I need to
find the confidence that winning instils in a player.”
Federer’s objective for 2005 is to defend the
truckload of points he accumulated last year. “This is one of the few
tournaments that I have not won,” adding light-heartedly “Come to think
of it, I’m not under any pressure in Rotterdam - there are simply no
points for me to defend here.” Federer made his debut at the ABN AMRO
WTT in 1999, when he was a mere 17 years old (he had blond hair in
those days). Although his status as a tennis player has changed, he
hasn’t missed a tournament since. In addition to losing to Nicolas
Escudé in the 2001 final – a match that went to a tiebreak in the third
set - he was knocked out of last year’s quarter-final by Tim Henman. If
Federer wants to win here, he’ll have to beat his friend and
fellow-countryman Stanislas Wawrinka. Many Swiss eyes are fixed on the
19-year old, who ranks 128th in the world. He knows Federer well: “We
spend time with each other when we’re on tour and we regularly train
together. Roger also gives me advice about my game.” Wawrinka fought
his way through the qualifiers and caused quite an upset by disposing
of Sébastien Grosjean in the first round. The Swiss youngster, who won
the junior version of Roland Garros in 2003, beat the Frenchman 7-6,
6-2. He is also likely to represent Switzerland during the Davis Cup
match, which will be played in Fribourg between 4 and 6 March.
Roger Federer confirmed that he will abide by
his decision not to play first round Davis Cup matches, despite Michel
Kratochvil breaking his leg last week. A decision that allows him to
focus on retaining his current ranking: “I don’t change my mind once
I’ve made a decision. Although it’s an honour to play for my country,
it’s also very demanding. However, the fact that I’m not playing in
March does not mean that I won’t play Davis Cup tennis ever. I think
the Swiss team has the potential to reach the second round.” While the
Dutch are favourites going into the match, Wawrinka has clearly shown
that the Swiss are able to field other first-class players. Dutch Davis
Cup captain Tjerk Bogtstra will undoubtedly have kept an eye on
Wawrinka.
Federer has other things on his mind at the
moment. The fact that he’s never lifted the ‘Wim Buitendijk Trophy’ is
about to be addressed.
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