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Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Roland Garros Second Round
By Roland Garros Official Site
R. FEDERER/N. Almagro 6-3, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
Q. Andre liked to say that after two rounds at the French Open, you really know where you're at. Do you know now after two rounds what you have here at the French Open? ROGER
FEDERER: Just to explain a little bit, I thought it was quite different
today, you know, than my previous match ‑ first of all, the opponent,
but then also the conditions. I thought it was different court, as
well. I thought it was much quicker. Had to kind of get used to that. I
feel I'm in the tournament, of course. I got the rhythm. I saw what is
out there really, you know, what to expect. I thought today was a good
test because I thought I had to focus more than in my last match to
come through. Q. On Friday Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal are going to play. You've had two very hard games against them. You beat Nadal. You narrowly lost to Gasquet. Can you compare the merits of the two players. ROGER FEDERER: Well, they're very different. Nadal
is going to be very different to anybody else anyway at the moment
because he's one of the few lefties we have in the game. But Richard's
got the crowd behind him this week. It will be interesting to see who
is going to win that, of course, because they're up‑and‑coming and now
they face each other. I guess it's going to be a better match for a
third round match for them. Q. You had a bit of a hiccup
when you served for the second set, but played great in the tiebreak.
You must have been pretty pleased with that. ROGER FEDERER:
Yeah, relieved, relieved. I didn't feel like I played a bad game. But
definitely played ‑‑ didn't play a great game, you know, to serve it
out. I wish I could have had more first serves in. But, you know,
that's how it goes. Took a big swing at it on the breakpoint and it
worked. He didn't make many of them, but on that breakpoint he did.
Definitely a big relief to come through in the tiebreaker. I started it well. I knew the importance of the second set. That was good. Q. You've talked about liking the courts maybe a bit like Hamburg, damp and wet. You see it like this today. Do you still feel that way or would you be happy on a dry, fast court like that? ROGER
FEDERER: No, it's good. Conditions were different today, so I at least
got a look at ‑‑ and I'm through at the same time. Get a feeling for
the tournament, for everything, even though I've been here for over a
week now. Yeah, it's definitely quicker. You know, plays different. So
you got to construct the points a little bit different than I would say
in Hamburg. But this doesn't mean I'm going to play less good. Q. No preference for one or the other? ROGER FEDERER: No, you've got to get used it. Of course, you know, Hamburg
was good. But, again, the stadium is very closed in. There's not very
much wind. Of course, here it's much more open. Things change. You
can't wish like it was. Q. Looking ahead to your next opponent, have you played him before? If so, what are his strengths and qualities? ROGER FEDERER: Well, we don't know who I'm going to play yet, so we'll see about that. I've played them both. Behrend once in Gstaad, as far as I remember. Pretty comfortable there. Gonzalez, I've beaten him on a few occasions, recently in Monte‑Carlo. Well, I'm the favorite anyway, so doesn't matter. Q. As you may know at the US Open
this year they're planning to have a replay system where the chair
umpire has the computer screen to call up questionable situations. Jim Curley, the tournament director from the US Open
has been here for a week talking to various players. I don't know if he
has spoken to you or not. Whether he has spoken to you or not, do you
have a view on the challenge system they're talking about, giving the
players one or possibly more challenges per set to question the calls? ROGER FEDERER: I spoke to Jim Curley.
I spoke to him. We spoke about the issue. I have a very strong opinion
about it. I'm absolutely against it. I'm against the challenge system.
I'm for the way it is right now, don't change that. Told him about the
difficulties about looking also ahead for all the other tournaments,
how much money will blow out by doing that because I think it's going
to cost too much money. We can use that for other reasons than for this
couple of calls a match. Of course, the big issue's about the Serena and Jennifer Capriati
match, and that was in the beginning of the third that that happened.
So for me it didn't really play a big role for the outcome. So I was
against it. He acknowledged that. That's my opinion. Q. You're not just against the challenge system; you're against the whole idea of replay? ROGER FEDERER: Yes, correct. Q.
The same thing is happening with soccer. A lot of people are against
replays. They think it takes away from the passion of sport. Do you
think replays should be kept out of sport altogether? ROGER
FEDERER: Well, I mean, every sport is different. The only thing I could
see being good for soccer is really if the ball is so close to the
line, like we've seen some goals, because that can really change, of
course, also the future of how the match is going to progress. But we're here to talk tennis, so let's leave the soccer to them. We'll get enough other problems. Q. While you're debating all sorts of manner of things, Tim Henman came in here earlier and talked about the tennis balls at Wimbledon. ROGER FEDERER: Okay, next problem, yes (smiling). Q. I know you're solving the world's problems at the moment. But he mentioned at Wimbledon
they don't ‑‑ when they're delivered to the courts, they're already out
of the cans, therefore they've had time to go flat, when they're
delivered to Wimbledon. ROGER FEDERER: They're opened a week before. Q. A week before, and he feels that's wrong. I wonder, as the defending champion... ROGER
FEDERER: Well, I guess that is wrong. Because when we go practice, we
open the balls one minute before practice. Usually, that's what I
remember from all the matches I usually play, they opened them let's
say five games before we start playing with them. Obviously, a week
before is very early. But what it really does to the balls, the experts
can tell. It is a little strange in my eyes, too, yeah. THE MODERATOR: Questions in French. Q. You played on central court the first day, and today on Suzanne Lenglen.
Can you tell us more about the difference between the two courts and
does it change your game, the way you build up your shots? ROGER FEDERER: It should not. But it's true that they are very different courts. You have far less space in the Suzanne Lenglen,
it's obvious. Does it change something to the game? I find it very
difficult to answer that question. You cannot go so far back in Suzanne Lenglen because you don't have as much space as you have on Philippe Chatrier. It's the only difference I see. Q.
After the first round you said you had a few problems with your
strokes, your serve, your forehand. Do you think you have improved? ROGER
FEDERER: I'm very happy to win, but I always feel that there are things
that could be adjusted and improved. I was working and training
yesterday to improve a number of things in order to play better today.
I think my match today was better than the first day. He was a much
more dangerous opponent today. I was more focused, more collected than
during the first round. Q. Do you play at the same level as you did in Hamburg? ROGER FEDERER: No, it's very different. The match was very different. Coria served differently. Today the conditions were very different from Hamburg. I'm going to speak with Tony and see what he thinks. I have my ideas about that, but I would like to discuss that with Tony first and then I'll see how I face the next match. Q. If you're going to face Gonzalez, how are you going to face this opponent? ROGER
FEDERER: It could be a dangerous match. He loves clay. I think this is
his tournament. I'm sure that he's going to fight for it even more than
in other tournaments. He has a fantastic forehand, so I have to watch
out. I have done it before. I've managed to resist this forehand, so I
think it will work again if I play against him. Q. The other day Nadal said you are the absolute favorite in Wimbledon and the fast surface, but that here in Roland Garros there's no absolute favorite. Do you agree with that? ROGER FEDERER: That's an interesting way of putting pressure on people (smiling). It's clever. He's not stupid. I think there are a number of favorites here, and he knows well who they are. And the answer for Wimbledon is not stupid either. He must be very tired because he hasn't played for two weeks. Q. Every time we ask him if he's the favorite, he says no, he's not the absolute favorite. ROGER FEDERER: It's true. I see that with other possible favorites. Not the absolute favorites, Coria, Ferrero, Safin, Roddick, Moya, myself. I wouldn't like to play against many of those players. I think we have many dangerous opponents here ‑ Nadal being one of them. Maybe slightly more dangerous than others. It's the first time he's here in Roland Garros, so he might need a bit of time. They have the same age, Gasquet and him, so maybe he doesn't like the idea of Gasquet having reached the third round, as well. Q.
You always say in your case the first rounds are the most difficult for
you. After these two rounds, how do you see your tennis and what are
the things that you should improve in your game if you want to go
further on? ROGER FEDERER: If I win in three sets, I should
not worry too much. I'm saving my strength and my energy by winning in
three‑setters. I don't think I need to explain that to you. But these
are important matters for me. The way I play is a bit irrelevant. For
each match I know I have this possibility of improvement and I have to
analyze the matches. I will have to see about this last one. I think it
was an interesting one. The next one is going to be a challenge against
a clay courter. Each of these matches makes me better on the surface. Q. A question from a countryman. Will you have time to send an SMS to talk about James Blake with Stan? ROGER FEDERER: No problem. I'm on his side, not on Blake's side, that's obvious. I'm very happy that he managed to beat Massu.
I haven't seen the match. Unfortunately, I was already in the hotel.
What he has managed is absolutely fantastic. I think we should pay him
compliments for that. I will not say that he's a favorite here, but he
has a good chance against Blake. Q. Are you going to give him advice? ROGER
FEDERER: I don't think it's very good to give people advice. My tennis
is very different from other people, so what I might say might not
help. If he wants me to help him, he can get in touch with me. But I
didn't help him for beating Massu, and he did win. That was the best possible solution.
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