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Sunday, May 29, 2005
Roland Garros Fourth Round
By Roland Garros Official Site
R. FEDERER/C. Moya 6-1, 6-4, 6-3
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
Q. One set and a half of tennis of extraordinary quality, that's what we saw. Did you feel the same way. ROGER
FEDERER: Yes, but not all that fantastic because he's injured. And with
the problem in the shoulder, he has let me play on my service. I think
he is very disappointed to have to play like this. But it went fine. There
were good moments and bad moments. Obviously, and, you know, the rhythm
isn't there. I felt that he had no faith in his own tennis. So I have
very little to say. I'm glad that I managed to save some
energy, and I was even surprised that he finished the match, which
proves that he's a real champion. He could have stopped before. Q. What about the future? Do you see this match as a sort of match between brackets? ROGER FEDERER: Yes. It's one more round and nothing else. Nothing much to say. Nothing much to think. I
think my training from yesterday and my training for tomorrow is going
to be more important, and what really will matter in the end is the
fact that I saved energy. Q. Now Hanescu. What do you think? ROGER FEDERER: I played him once in Davis Cup. It was a difficult match. I was just back from Australia.
I was very tired. I had a few possibilities during the first set but
let them go, and then I got more into the match during the second set. Here, we're playing on clay so it gives me confidence. But he was very good, so he can play even better than that. Q. You had in mind that it could be Nalbandian, no? ROGER FEDERER: No, no. I saw the match. Q. Before that. ROGER FEDERER: Well, I was not even thinking about that match. I was thinking about my match against Moya. You never know how Moya
is going to be. You never know, because he can wake up one morning with
a shoulder problem or not. I noticed straightaway that he had a
problem. I knew that, but I still had to remain very focused. So I was
thinking about my own match. Then I watched Nalbandian and Hanescu.
I thought he could win. But then he let go many opportunities at the
beginning, and then he went 6‑2, and then won the fourth and the fifth.
Q. Did you speak with Carlos about his shoulder? ROGER
FEDERER: Yes, I just said that I hope this pain will go away and that
he can play again without any pains. All of the players know what it is
to play with a pain in the shoulder like that. It is not fun. He had ice on it already, so that was a good decision, I think. Q. I don't know whether you discussed already here the match against Hanescu. What do you remember of the match in Bucharest? You were just coming back from Australia. ROGER FEDERER: Yes, I was just arriving from Australia.
I got back on Wednesday in the evening, I was hitting Thursday and
Friday. Then, as I said, it was a very tight first set and then I got
more into the match and I finished well. But I think that he has improved since, and he managed to beat Nalbandian
in the last two sets so easily. I know that he's an extremely good
clay‑courter. It shows this week, and it probably will show next week
maybe. Q. This was clay indoors. Here, this is not indoors. Does that make a difference? ROGER FEDERER: Yes, because of the wind, among other things. But
apart from that, I don't know. It's always different feelings. At the
time, I had just No. 1, so it was a good thing for him, but it was
difficult for him as well. Now, next time we face each other,
it's a totally different situation. I think he has had the experience
on the central court, so it's going to help him tomorrow because he's
not on any of the minor courts. THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please. Q. Very convincing performance. Is there anything in your game you're not satisfied with at the moment? ROGER FEDERER: Well, I thought, you know, Carlos
couldn't play 100%. It was very obvious to me. So for me it's very hard
to kind of say how well I played, you know. It's not possible just
because I knew in how much sort of pain he was and that he was far off
from 100%. So for me it was all about kind of being focused,
try not to make many errors and try to use the advantage that he
couldn't serve, you know, to break him and kind of get to him ‑‑ make
it get to him mentally, you know. Obviously, it did, through to the
second set. Once I won the second, it was quite obvious I'm gonna win this. So, yes, it was tough to stay concentrated out there for the whole time because of the circumstances. Q. Into the second week. It's a different challenge now, isn't it? ROGER
FEDERER: Yeah, it is. I'm very relieved in a way, as well, but happy to
have come so far again after a few years of tough times here in Paris. So
at least now, you know, can walk away. I've won four matches, which is
good. But of course once you get to the quarters, you want more,
especially because I haven't been using kind of my reserve tank yet. I
still have a lot of energy left. I'm looking forward to hopefully
another few more matches.
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