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August 30, 2006
The real Roger Federer - part 1
By Michael FitzGerald - interview by Matthias Stach, Eurosport
Roger
Federer has the chance to win his third grand-slam title of the year at
the US Open, and many are already speaking of him as the greatest
player ever to lift a racquet. In his hotel suite in New York, he gave
an exclusive interview, revealing a side of him fans do not see on the
tennis court.
How did you come to stay at this hotel? Why are you staying here? Roger Federer:
This is the second year that I have booked a suite here. It's a quiet
and comfortable hotel. We actually came across it totally by chance,
through a former President of Switzerland. I was participating in a UN
event here, “The year of sport.” I stayed here when we launched it and
since then we've liked it here. A Swiss general manager is also here
and for that reason we feel at home. Is it the same suite as last year? Are you superstitious in that respect? Federer: It's the same sort of suite but it's on another floor. But I'm not a superstitious sort of person. An
intimate question: Boris Becker said that before important matches he
had to sleep alone in bed. Is that the case with you, or are you more
relaxed in that regard. Federer: Of course
my girlfriend Mirka and I sleep together, But I've never heard of
anything of sleeping alone in a room. I remember when I played Pete
Sampras at Wimbledon in 2001. We didn't exactly know what to do.
“Should we sleep in the same bed together, or should we even be in the
same place?” Mirka eventually said: “Look, you're used to sleeping
alone in bed and I'll sleep next to you on a mattress next to you.” And
that's they way Mirka did it for the rest of the tournament, which in
retrospect is pretty funny. But now everything has returned to normal? Federer: Of course, everything's back to normal. We share the bed, the bathroom etc… Everything here seems very small, but very nice. And I certainly don't think it's overly posh, don't you reckon? Federer:
No, I must say the hotel rooms here in New York are certainly very
small. That's simply because space is at a premium here. But the rooms
are generally all newly furnished and well kept. I think by New York
standards this is a pretty big suite. But it's very homely and I feel
good here. What's the situation with payment? Do you get a subsidy from the event organiser? Federer:
With us it works like this: Every player gets a subsidy of 150 to 200
Dollars per night. In qualification rounds maybe a bit less. After
that, you can choose which hotel you would like to stay in. If you pay
more, then you contribute the rest. I think it's a good deal that the
players can choose where they'd like to stay, as there's a big choice
here. Normally at tournaments, they say: “you're staying at this hotel,
there's no choice.” Fortunately the US organisers allow me, as world
number one, a little more freedom. It's very nice of the tournament
directors. What was it like earlier, when you had to stay in
a room with your coach and the money wasn't coming in quite so easily?
Did you say to yourself: “We'll take a self-service apartment?” Federer:
Yes, definitely. At the start you're always counting every penny. You
were always fighting to stay afloat and trying to make the
breakthrough. I have also shared rooms with the coach and other players
in smaller hotels. That was also very comfortable. You were never alone
and never tried to take over the room for yourself. You had to cut
costs. I made the step from junior to professional very quickly. When I
was a junior, a lot of the costs were met by the Swiss tennis
federation. That certainly helped a lot to save pennies. Your former coach, Peter Lundgren, once said that you often had trouble sleeping. Is that true? Federer:
Yes, that's right. I don't know where that comes from. When I sleep, I
always bury my head in the pillow. I don't know why I do that. Maybe
because I'm cold or something. It's something I've been doing since I
was very young. But luckily Mirka told me that I don't do it any more.
So in that respect it's good. Let's go into the living room. It's very tastefully decorated with the pictures. Are you at all interested in art? Federer:
Yes, I've already been to the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) here in New
York. I find art fascinating. I'd like to try and visit some other
museums in the next two weeks to see a few pictures. The paintings are
very impressive. What's your taste in music? Federer: I can't say exactly. I listen to a bit of everything. I grew up with dance music, trance and so on. Are you a good mover on the dance floor? Federer:
Well, I haven't really spent too much time in nightclubs. I prefer not
to dance if I can possibly avoid it. Probably like pretty much every
man. I got into rock through Peter Lundgren: Metallico and ACDC, who I
also saw in concert. Apart from that I'm a bit of a Lenny Kravitz fan,
as well as pop and whatever you hear on the radio. I don't particularly
like rap though.
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