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Wednesday, 19 January, 2005
Australian Open Second Round
By ASAP Sports
R. FEDERER/T. Suzuki 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
THE MODERATOR: We can break from national language to take a question in English.
Q. How good did Suzuki play? Did he surprise you?
ROGER FEDERER: Yes, he did. I thought it was a great match.
Everybody is talking about it right now, so it's fantastic. I thought
it was very entertaining. He came to the net very often. I had to come
up with some great passing shots to beat him. I thought he served
extremely well. Even though he took a lot of chances, I have a feeling
he played it quite controlled, which made it difficult for me. I really
had to come up with a good match to beat him today. I thought he's a
very good player. First time we played.
Q. Could be the last player who plays serve and volley.
ROGER FEDERER: There's not many left, yeah. It gets more and
more difficult. Players return better, pass better. You're not allowed
to miss any easy volleys these days. They cost you quite quickly. But
it's nice to see it still exists. He's not just a serve-and-volleyer
who totally relies on his serve; he really comes up with good volleys
consistently. I think that makes the difference.
Q. He was a little more difficult than you thought before the match?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I knew it's going to be a tough match
because a guy who keeps coming at you all the time, especially in the
beginning of the match, it's never easy because you're basically
warming up. Right away you have to hit passing shots. That's a
difficult thing to do. But what surprised me is how he constructed his
points. He used his slice very well and his movements and his serve.
That made it difficult for me. I really had to come up with great
passing shots to beat him. A good passing shot was just not enough
today.
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