|
Monday, May 23, 2005
Roland Garros First Round
By Roland Garros Official Site
R. FEDERER/D. Sela 6-1, 6-4, 6-0
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
THE MODERATOR: Questions in English for Roger. Q. Well, did you have a good solid scouting report on your opponent today? ROGER FEDERER: Half an hour before the match. I warmed up with him on the same court. That's what I got. That's it. Q. So warmed up with your opponent? ROGER FEDERER: I didn't. On the same court. I warmed up with my friend and he warmed up with his friend. Q. What did you notice? ROGER
FEDERER: Well, I heard he was a rather small guy, you know. Not the big
type. Then in practice you just get to see he's a righty, he's got a
backhand with one hand. I think Tony looked more at him than I. I had to look at the ball and stay focused. Q. How pleased are you with your performance? ROGER
FEDERER: It was all right. Just happy to be through, really, kind of
match. There's good moments, but also, you know, bad moments. You can never be unhappy winning in straight sets, so it's good. Good start. Q. Anything different about the court from when you practiced on it last week? ROGER
FEDERER: Well, we had to play through sunshine, rain, wind and
everything. So there was a little bit of everything here. Made it
tough. You know, balls were quick. Then, you know, new balls ‑‑ The balls we're very slow after the rain, and new balls come, so you have to always adjust. He
was starting inside the baseline, then he was moving very far back. He
was doing a lot of different things, you know. That kind of made it
maybe difficult in the beginning to try to get the rhythm. All in all,
it was all right. Q. Give us the bad moments. ROGER
FEDERER: Well, I just wasn't happy on a few of my forehands. I think I
could have also served better. But that got better throughout the
match, so... Q. When you're trailing down a service break in
the second set, do you ever whim‑whams, bad moments, saying, "I've lost
here in the first round before, what's going on?" Are you beyond that
sort of thing? ROGER FEDERER: No, because I won the first set
6‑1, you feel good. Once I win usually a set 6‑1, I'm not going to lose
a match. But it's true, you know, when I'm down a break in the second,
he's looking like he's going to next game as well, it makes you wonder
sometimes. But I reacted just in time to not let that influence me too much. Q. In Hamburg you didn't drop your serve at all. To drop it twice in a set is almost unheard of. ROGER FEDERER: That's a good problem to have, I'm telling you. Q. He was a bit of a surprise package. ROGER
FEDERER: Yeah, you know, some games he was swinging very freely I had
the feeling today. Of course, sometimes he gets a good game. But still
feels like maybe sometimes it shouldn't happen. But, I mean, his
service game, his own, in that set, when it rained and everything, he
was playing also very unconsistent. One game was good; one game was
bad. So it really shows he's still quite young. But he's got potential.
You see that too. He can hit the ball hard, he can also stay back. But
he's rather small, so he's got to ‑‑ has to be strong, his fitness,
throughout his whole career. Q. Same with Henman.
He's playing a player that none of us have really heard of. Is it
almost tougher to play someone you don't know, you've never seen, you
don't have a feel for anything about their game at all? ROGER FEDERER: Who is he playing? Q. Some unpronounceable Polish, Argentinian chap. ROGER FEDERER: He's got the same thing going on. Same problem, I mean. I think he's probably happy to see that Starace is not playing because that would be tougher because of his run last year here. It's true, it kind of makes it tough times. But usually, you know, let's say when I lost to Berdych or I lost to Nadal or Gasquet,
I knew they were really good, they could take the step within the next
‑‑ this week. I'm playing them right now. Then you're rather worried.
But today I haven't heard anything from him. So I think you can at
least relax a little bit because he's not supposed to break through in
this tournament. That kind of gives you confidence, that if you play
tough, you know, you should come through. It's going to be the same for
Tim. Q. You're a continental European. In some ways, would this be the Grand Slam you're most comfortable at? ROGER FEDERER: Close from home? Q. Yes. Are there things about being here that are more familiar, more familiar, than being in New York, London or Melbourne? ROGER FEDERER: No, I feel everywhere the same. Because of the language, I speak them all, the three languages of the Grand Slams. You know, you staying in the city, so the city is big. That's obviously a little bit different to Switzerland.
Because I travel so much, I get used to it. It's always nice when I
come to these big cities because there's so much to do. Then again, you
know, you're kind of happy when you leave, and you're happy when you
come back. I feel the same way at almost every Grand Slam, except, you know, Wimbledon is in this tiny village, I would call it, because I never go to the city. Melbourne is kind of a regular‑size town, you know. It's just New York
and here which are really, really big. I guess it's good to come here
early, you know, kind of get used to the whole thing going on.
|
