November 15, 2005

Masters Cup Shanghai Round Rubin

By ASAP Sports

R. FEDERER/I. Ljubicic 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4)

An interview with: ROGER FEDERER

Q. When the physiotherapist came on court at the beginning of the third set, there were shivers in the stadium. Some people thought you may retire.

ROGER FEDERER: No (smiling).

Q. How can you explain it? Were you trying to imitate the other five players who left?

ROGER FEDERER: No, not at all. No, no, I did it for my well-being because I felt like my leg was starting to tighten up. Already I had that feeling against Nalbandian a little bit because maybe I'm compensating because of my injury. You know, that's why we're allowed -- I didn't take a break, I just used the changeover. I thought, you know, that might help a little bit to loosen it up. No, I was never in doubt I was going to finish that match, maybe like the people were in the stadium (smiling).

Q. With so many players pulling out, do you feel you kind of single-handedly saved the tournament?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, no, not really. You know, I think that this tournament is so big, they signed a three-year deal, so I think next year again the top players will be here, and hopefully back in shape. I understand the big disappointment from the government, from the tournament, from the fans. Also obviously I am a little disappointed I can't play against them. But I think, you know, we'll still see some great tennis this week. I came here not knowing if I can play, and I went through all the therapy just to really show the people also how much this event really means to me. Sort of arrived basically on one leg. Now that I can play, it's fantastic. I thought I was the worst injured of all. Now that I can play, for me, it means very much to me. It also should show a message how much and how important this tournament means to tennis. For me, this is equaling like a Grand Slam. I think everybody wants to play but was just not able to.

Q. Because of that, do you feel sorry in a way for Andre because he came here a week before, he played a match, clearly tried? This morning, he was criticized slightly by the organizers for his results in Shanghai. Do you feel sorry for him a little?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I guess, yeah. I mean, I don't know how bad it really was. You know, only he can tell, and if it was really worth it to come over here. But I think it's still great that he shows up and tries. Maybe other guys could have tried, too. I don't know. I don't think so, because they know better their bodies. We can't look into it. I think criticism is allowed at this point, but I think to a certain point because this tournament's still going on. The best players are here. After all, the ones that replaced the ones ranked in front of them who couldn't play because of injury. Yeah, we will still get to see enough great players over the years to come here. I'm looking at this further ahead than just today and yesterday.

Q. To get to the match, Ljubicic was very close. He played you close earlier in the year. Is there a difference in his play now? Is he getting better, is he getting closer to you?

ROGER FEDERER: No, I felt like this is exactly the match I expected. I expected a close match. You know, I thought maybe he was even slightly the favorite because of what I've been going through the last few weeks. Obviously, I'm very pleased with the result because a win is a win no matter if it's two or three sets. But I would have -- I think I would have been very disappointed in the end to have lost because I thought I had so many chances throughout the whole match. But, you know, he fought hard and almost turned it around. I thought it was a good match. I really played good tennis in the first set. I couldn't live up to it in the second set. But, again, in the third I could really start to play good tennis again.

Q. In the match just now total you had four aces. Three of them were in the tiebreak.

ROGER FEDERER: Saving them (smiling).

Q. How do you make aces always in the key points?

ROGER FEDERER: It isn't always like this. I wish it was like this, I could press a button and I could just hit an ace. I think that doesn't work for anybody. But of course I think, you can also see this with Ivan, once you get to the very close and important moments, you just give it a little bit more focus because you can't focus on the serve, on each single serve, the same way. I think when it really gets tight and important, you just make sure you really make that serve and focus a little bit more. I think that makes the difference also for me.

Q. Ivan said that physically he felt you were not struggling, but you were not as sharp as you could be. Is that exactly what you felt? Can you speak about your physical condition?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, it's okay, isn't it? I won a match, so... No, but I sort of agree with you. I'm definitely not a hundred percent. I think it's obvious. It's been six, seven weeks since my last match, and I didn't have the preparation I should have, you know, physically being able to run since two, three weeks. I've been only able to run since basically a week. I definitely feel like that, you know, occasionally I should have made one more shot like I explained the other day. I think he's quite accurate with his opinion.

Q. You protected your year-end No. 1 ranking for two years. What does it mean to you?

ROGER FEDERER: Oh, a lot. You can imagine, this was my big, big goal for exactly this moment last year, you know, try to again make it to No. 1, try to defend Wimbledon. I achieved everything I wanted to. Of course, I hoped to win again three Grand Slams. It's not that easy after all, I saw. Yeah, it fulfills me with a lot of joy because it's a great reward for hard work - I think not only for me, but for the whole team. Yeah, it's a great moment last night. I really enjoyed it.

Q. We can see the black ankle brace, ankle strap. What other precautions are you having to take at the moment that you wouldn't normally? Do you prepare differently? Obviously you have strapping underneath. Is there any other preparation you need to do that you don't normally do?

ROGER FEDERER: No. I'm happy, it's basically very normal. I do tapes on both ankles, like I usually do. It's just in practice where I don't do it, and this is where it happened. Who knows, maybe would have saved me, maybe not. This is usually what I always do. The ankle protection is just an extra protection over the tape itself to give me a little bit more security maybe just running and also mentally especially I think, you know, because if you want to run for every ball, you've got to feel safe. Other than that, you know, my preparations are the same. I warm up for 15 minutes, you know, run, make the moves. So basically I'm back to normal, you know, considering what happened four weeks ago. I'm happy I can basically live, go through a normal tournament not having to make crazy things, like injections or whatever it is.

Q. Because you say you're definitely not at 100% fitness, is there a part of you out there which is kind of thinking, "I hope something doesn't happen here," are you just worried about what might happen?

ROGER FEDERER: I'm not really worried about the ankle. It's just more having the stamina of being able to go physically through a tough three-setter. But again, you know, tennis gives you the opportunity, and especially my game, to play on my terms, deciding how long I want the rally to last. So basically it's okay (smiling).

Q. You've been in Bangkok for the last two years. You've been here in Shanghai for the grand opening of this stadium. Is China something that is important for you, and Asia in particular is important for you right now?

ROGER FEDERER: When I heard they were interested to get me here for the stadium opening, I was very excited because now that I've been here, I did the opening stadium, I think it's the most out-of-this-world stadium we have in tennis right now. Obviously, in a tradition, maybe it's nowhere close to Wimbledon where it is. But I think it's maybe the most special one we have on tour. To be here for the opening ceremony is fantastic. I enjoy coming to Asia because I don't get the opportunity so much because we don't have that amount of big tournaments here. So I think it's absolutely correct that the Masters is held here and held indoors. Hopefully looking forward to another two years here.

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