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October 9, 2004
World's Tennis Champion Roger Federer's TalkAsia Interview Transcript
By Lorraine Hahn, CNN TalkAsia
Lorraine Hahn: This week on TalkAsia the world's number one tennis star
who's been described as one of sports most complete players in recent
times. This is TalkAsia.
Welcome to TalkAsia I'm Lorraine Hahn. Swiss tennis sensation Roger
Federer is our guest this week. What a year 2004 has been for the 23
year old phenomenon. He grabbed the Australian open in January, secured
his second Wimbledon Grand Slam title in June, and was recently crown
US Open champion -- not to mention capturing multiple ATP master series
titles along the way. A sports analyst has said watching Federer is
"like watching classical music, watching jazz he's a combination of
athlete and artist." While his main competition Andy Roddick has
commented "Federer is so strong, he's got an aura about him in the
locker room, mentally. He's so confident right now, a lot of his
success right now- is between the ears."
LH: Well let's find out from the man himself what he thinks about that
and much more, Roger Federer is right here with me now in the studio.
Welcome to Hong Kong, thank you so much.
Roger Federer: Thank you very much.
LH: Is that true that it's all between the ears?
RF: Well, it's a lot going on in your head when you feel good it helps
and you're sure that the shot will come at the right moment. It's
important.
LH: Now the US open, you just clinched that, I mean this has been an amazing season for you, hasn't it?
RF: Yes it has been beyond expectations: this was not something I was
aiming for -- to win three grand slams in a year and now that it
happened I'm obviously really really happy. It's a fantastic year I've
been having and hopefully I can finish it off in style.
LH: How did you do it?
RF: Its tough to say, it is really tough. I had a great year last year,
I finished number two and I won my first Grand Slam. And I was hoping
if I could repeat that, and if I am really lucky I could become number
one in the world, so that was I was aiming for. Suddenly I win the
Australian Open and I'm number one in the world, then I defend my crown
at Wimbledon, and won so many titles this year, its been fantastic, I
don't know the secret really.
LH: Recently, I mean earlier on, you didn't have that great a time at the Olympics, correct? I mean, what happened there?
RF: It was one of my big big goals for the season to do well at the
Olympics. I lost in the second round to a young Czech player.
Obviously, I was very disappointed -- because I finished fourth at the
Olympics in Sydney so I wanted to do a step better and win a medal, but
I failed. But I have nice memories of the Olympics -- I carried the
flag for Switzerland so that was a great moment for me.
LH: What was it the pressure of representing your country, was it pressure on you individually, what was it?
RF: I don't know, maybe I was a little exhausted from the previous
tournaments from the whole year. Obviously I tried to figure out what
happened, why did I lose, what went wrong, and I put it down to the
fact that my opponent played a good match, and I never really felt
comfortable in the tournament, and obviously it's a big pity because I
have to wait another four years for my next chance.
LH: No problem you're only 23! You've got plenty of time. I wanted to
ask about your tennis, about your game -- how do you prepare, what goes
through your mind mentally, just before a match?
RF: Well, you know every match has a similar preparation. You should
keep it the same way, I think to keep it simple. Obviously before big
matches you're a little bit more nervous than others. You warm up for
half an hour before, you make sure you eat early enough, I don't know
you might have to tape your feet because you're preventing injuries and
so on, you warm up, and you prepare mentally for the match you know --
prepare the tactics you want to use. Then you are ready to go!
LH: Right, now some people have said that you can see the game, you can
see the ball coming, even before its shot. How do you predict something
like that? Psychic?!
RF: Well, you play a lot of tennis all the time, during the match or in
practice and you get a feel for it -- where you will hit a ball, from
this position and then your opponent can only do so much. And then
obviously you have tougher opponents who can do much more from certain
situations and you have to know your opponents well to feel that. But I
think I have a natural talent for reading the game very well and the
importance is to use it. I've worked very hard in my condition to be
faster, stronger, and now everything's coming together. So it's perfect.
LH: Roger you've done pretty well after splitting up with your coach, why end that winning formula?
RF: It's hard you know not hard to explain, we've been working for,
maybe three or four years together and we had a great time, that's for
sure. And we're still very good friends. I spoke to him during the year
and said look "I think there's a few things we should change" and at
the end of the year I just thought -- it doesn't seem like we can
adjust, because we're too good of friends. And I think professionally,
its better for us to stop. I definitely want to look for a coach right
away, but then it went so good without a coach that I just kept it that
way, and it worked out you know. It's also very strange for me.
LH: So now that it's working out and you've won, do you really need a
coach is there something you are looking for? Or, if the right person
comes along, then fine.
RF: I think a coach could be help now again. Just relying on my self
all the time would be wrong because a person who sees the match from
the outside, sees many different things, I think it important to have a
coach, but I'm not pressurizing myself by saying "okay I want to have
one in the next few weeks, or the next few months, or the next few
years..." but I hope so.
LH: Now that you've reached the so-called peak of this tennis mountain, what does it look like from up there?
RF: It's nice, it feels great. Actually, I've experienced it a little
bit in the Juniors: I was number one junior in the world in 1998 and I
remember when I became number one in the Juniors I felt like I was on
top of the world, I'm the best of all and it's a totally different view
of the world from up there. Actually, the impact of being number 1 in
the world and just winning a grand slam was actually very different: I
feel like I have much respect from the people when they say "oh this is
the number one player in the world." It's actually very interesting.
LH: Wow, that is really something. Roger, we're going to take a quick
break. Up next on TalkAsia, the bumpy road to becoming number one for
Roger Federer.
BLOCK B
LH: You're back with TalkAsia and our conversation with Swiss tennis
champion Roger Federer. Roger, I know you've seen that clip many many
times, but tell us what that moment felt like.
RF: Oh it was very a strong emotional moment for me, probably the most
that's clear. You know after wins or losses you can hide out in the
locker room, but here I'm out on the center court, and the ceremony is
taking place and I have so many emotions taking place inside of me and
the person who was on court with center court asked me -- how does it
feel -- and I said I cannot describe it, I was crying so much, the
feeling was so nice.
LH: Your first grand slam amazing. Let me take you back to when you
were much younger, when you really fell in love with tennis. What was
it about the game that really drew your interest at what, the age of
four?
RF: I don't remember I must have been 2, 3, 4 years old. I used to go
to the tennis courts with my parents because they would go there on
weekends and play their mixed doubles. Meantime, I would just play
against a wall. I was into sports in general, I loved soccer, I loved
tennis -- any ball sport I loved actually, but particularly tennis and
soccer.
LH: Was it your intention to be the world number one?
RF: No not really -- that was beyond my dreams. My dreams were to just
to take part, maybe in Wimbledon, maybe to meet my idols like Boris
Becker or Stefan Edberg or just kind of look up to them, for me that
was already very nice. And suddenly when I started to feel like -- okay
I'm not too bad in Juniors, and I'm not too far away from the tour
itself, things is when you start dreaming -- I would like to be top 100
one day, top 10 one day. You always set yourself new goals and new
dreams.
LH: But you were also quite a footballer? Why not pick football over tennis?
RF: I think I was about twelve years old, I was playing tennis and
soccer very much maybe 4-5 times a week. And my coach said to me -- if
you don't come to all the practice sessions during the week, you can't
play the matches on the weekend. And for me it was all about the
matches, and I had to make a decision and I told him and I think it has
to be tennis then, because I like being in control of winning and
losing, and in soccer, I would always think -- oh no if my goalie makes
a mistake, I don't know I'm not happy about it. So, I guess this is why
I chose tennis and I guess tennis was always my first love.
LH: You know, I read that you were famous or should I say infamous for
your temper tantrums when you were younger. Did that ever get in the
way of your training?
RF: Yeah for a while, I couldn't practice for more than an hour in a
row or one hour 15 because I would lose my mind, throw my racket,
swear, scream, whatever bad there was in tennis. My coaches told me
well you're just going to practice for as long until you freak out
really. So it took me quite a long time to even get me to practice for
2 hours in a row.
LH: What was it, was it failure that made you angry or...?
RF: It was a very irritating and angry on the court itself, and after I
especially lost matches I was very sad, I would cry a lot, even after I
especially lost matches I would cry a lot. I would cry even during
matches, when I was 10, 12, 14 I would cry saying -- "Oh I can't play
tennis anymore", you know how kids are. It took me a really long time,
up until I was really 20 years old before I could say -- "okay Roger,
some things have to change now you can't always act bad on the court".
And obviously it came along, because for you play on the bigger centre
courts on the world, you don't want to act kind of strange, so I
started to change a little bit.
LH: Right, and how did you overcome that? And become so...
RF: It was really up to myself to say now "enough is enough, now
behave" you know? And I learned that saving that energy was good for
me, putting it into the match itself. It made a huge difference for me.
LH: Roger do you think after winning the Juniors at 1998, turning pro,
it took a while for things to get going, get cooking. Why?
RF: There's always been very high expectations for me. Because I became
Junior World Champion when I was 17 years old. When you are 18 they
expect you to become top 50 or to win your first tournament. But its
not that simple. Even though I thought the transition for me, going
from juniors to pro, went quite quick, but I also had my times for
about half a year, or three quarters of a year, where I was losing a
lot of matches and losing confidence and losing belief that I could do
it, because I was mentally and physically not strong enough. Suddenly I
was not facing people with the same age, suddenly you're facing 30 year
olds, people who have all the experience, who are stronger than you
bigger than you, for your mental to change that, it takes some time you
know. Even though I thought my career has a good way of going,
everything didn't come right away, I had to work for some things, so
for me looking the Wimbledon victory came at the right time and now
obviously I enjoy this ride.
LH: Roger, we're going to take another very short break. Just ahead on
TalkAsia, who is Juliette? And how does Roger plan to keep his number
one spot? We'll be right back.
BLOCK C
LH: Welcome back to TalkAsia. Observers are saying that
professional tennis is in desperate need of some new blood. Swiss
tennis champion Roger Federer, is just that.
LH: Do you think so Roger -- you and Andy Roddick are part of this new generation?
RF: Yeah...I think definitely we are yeah, because we've had some great
matches in the past. We're totally different characters, different
games, and I think that is exactly what the game needs. I'm looking
forward to many more battles with him.
LH: Now how do you feel now that you're so popular obviously. You've
got to balance the sort of commercial aspect of your business -- you
know, catering to sponsors and as well playing your game.
RF: Yeah, many things come your way when you're getting rich and
famous, I would say and especially it goes by very quick in sports,
from one day to another you can be a star. And so for me, everything
since my Wimbledon win in 2003 everything has happened so fast. Then
you make money - then what do you do with the money, so know its very
interesting and definitely. You know, checking out what is there is to
do. And then you have many more sponsors coming also, you have to find
time to do that because it's also good for image. And if you have good
sponsors who present you well, but you have to feel comfortable with
your sponsors so that's also a very important thing.
LH: It's quite a balancing act isn't it?
RF: Especially to co-ordinate the time with the tennis life, because
most important is your tennis -- because I can only do it for another
ten years I would say, after that my body is broken you know? (LH: I
don't know about that!) It's about coordinating the sponsors, your
life, your private life, and your free time.
LH: Roger is it important for you to break in or really make a name for
yourself here in Asia for example, or even in America. Obviously in
Europe you're a sensation, but this part of the world?
RF: Actually I like Asia very much, and it's for me very important to
come and play here more in Asia, because I really like the culture, the
people and I hope coming here to these shows and playing more I can
gain fans all around the world.
LH: How is it working with your girlfriend? You know, mixing personal and professional?
RF: It is interesting, because she used to play, she had surgery on her
foot and never recovered of it, and now she's supporting my career by
coordinating the media. She books the flights, books the hotels, makes
sure everything is organized for me. It's like her second career I
would say, so she's really helping me as much as she can and she's
great, she's fantastic.
LH: Yes, you're very lucky. There is also another woman in your life, and I also made reference to her, Juliet... who is she?
RF: She is...oh this is a funny story. She is a cow I won (LH: Cow
right?) ... yeah it's a cow, a real cow, a big one.. a fat one. I won
it after Wimbledon, not I won it, they gave me a cow as a present.
Actually she had a baby so now I have two cows. But that actually is an
older story, that actually is the story from last year, which I'm
actually a little happy that it's not. I'm not speaking about it too
much anymore because I had a feeling I was looking like a farmer for a
while, but now again, it's a little bit over and I'm happy.
LH: I've read recently McEnroe saying that you are the most gifted
player he has ever seen. Now that is something coming from a person
like McEnroe.
RF: Yeah, many many praises from many different players, and experts
and fans. You know it's amazing the compliments that I get. Obviously
sometimes I'm over whelmed, because it's too much, they say too many
nice things about me, especially difficult in the beginning of my
career -- oh this guy has so much talent he can be the best ever -- and
I hadn't even won anything yet. Now that I've won four grand slam
titles and am number one in the world, feel much more secure and I feel
better.
LH: Confident?
RF: Yeah more confident and all... I deserve ... some of the
compliments and I hope I can fulfill some of it and everything is all
possible, so we'll see.
LH: Right what is the best tip you could give a junior player. I mean
it's tough right? When you're young you've got to balance school and...
RF: Yes, there are many factors that have got to be right. You've
definitely got to have parents who understand you, what you love doing
is sports, you know? And sometimes sports is difficult to combine with
school you know, but I've always thought it was important to play any
kind of sport in general. Of course, if the person plays tennis I'm
happy about it because I'm also here to promote tennis a little bit,
and important is to have fun out on the court. It won't always be easy,
there's always going to be bad results and they're going to throw you
back and you're going to be down sitting in your corner and saying, oh
I'm never going to make it in tennis. But when you're young, you're not
aiming to be number one in the world - you're dreaming of it, you're
dreaming to see the best in the world. But then once you're actually
close to them, maybe you get a chance to say hello to a few, and maybe
you have a chance to play with them and then suddenly you're playing
against them and they're your rival. So it goes very quickly, before
you know it, you're up there... it's really really funny.
LH: What will be your focus? In the year?
RF: I really hope I can finish this year off in style, that's really
what I am aiming for. If I can win one more out of the five, I'm very
happy, because then I would have reach ten titles of the year, which
would be fantastic. But I heard just good news lately that after the
U.S. open, no one can catch me as number one in the world until the end
of this year, which for me is already great.
LH: Is there anything about your game that you're going to try and change or improve?
RF: No.
LH: You're very happy with everything you've got
RF: I'm very happy with the way it is right now. There's always things
I would like to improve but as long as it's not broken don't fix it as
they say. But I'm my own coach so Roger Federer the coach says to the
player, you're fine right now.
LH: Right, well roger good luck to you (RF: Thanks very much) Thank you
very much for coming in. Appreciate it, appreciate it. World number one
tennis ace -- Roger Federer. And that is TalkAsia this week. Be sure to
check out our website at cnn.com/talkasia for upcoming guests. And you
can let us know who you'd like to see on the show. That address, talkasia@cnn.com. Thank you very much for joining us. I'm Lorraine Hahn. Let's talk again next week.
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