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Saturday, June 17, 2006
Halle Semifinal
By Gerry Weber Open Official Site
R. FEDERER/T. Haas 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
Q: You really serve a lot of match points. FEDERER:
Yes, I am. And I’m happy I’m winning them. That’s good. That was a
tough match with Tommy. Obviously could have, should have closed it out
earlier. But, he’s a good player and he came out of some tough moments
there. He played well on them. He served well and played aggressive. So
thank God I got off a good start in the third.
Q: You had 16 break points and 2 converted. Is that cause for concern? FEDERER:
No, those matches happen. Especially on grass it is harder to break
because obviously the serve is much more effective. Somehow I had my
difficulties on the ad-side because I was making many points on the
deuce-side. He was serving better on the ad-side, so I couldn’t get the
balls back when I had to. It’s a combination of many things. Once in a
while you get these matches. It’s a little frustrating. But today I
actually felt confident and fine and good about it. That was important.
Q: 15 finals in a row. Can you comment on that? FEDERER: It’s
quite exceptional I think. I told my girlfriend, my manager, coach and
everybody that after I made the finals in Paris, I only have finals and
wins to defend. That’s kind of tough, but I’m happy I keep that streak
up. Every week I play in the finals is something unbelievable for me.
Because you always hope for the best week and when you make the finals,
you walk away not too disappointed even though you might lose some of
them. That is really something very nice for me.
Q: Everything was a lot crispier today. FEDERER: I definitely
feel that there is improvement. That is the obvious improvement from
playing so much now. You hit the ball better. I think that Gasquet and
Rochus might have a little edge over Tommy from the baseline. Then
again Tommy has other areas in his game, which are way better than
theirs. But he made a few errors which I thought Rochus and Gasquet
didn’t do. That was incredible.
Q: Can you talk about Berdych? FEDERER: I never played him on
grass. So that will be a test. He’s got a great serve. I just played
him recently at the French Open. There the serve always doesn’t come
into play so much. But I see him as a possible future great player. I
think he’s got great talent. So it will be a difficult match I think.
Q: And Vliegen? FEDERER: Vliegen is a bit of a surprise because
he’s just come up and about in the last few months. He broke the top
50, then the top 40 and maybe now he’s going to break the top 30. It’s
fantastic and he’s a really nice guy too. I’m happy for him. I played
him back in Paris a few years ago. I beat him very easily and he used
to joke around that he couldn’t believe how he had no chance against
me. So, now times have changed and he maybe has more chance this time
around.
Q: Have you ever had a tournament where you played tiebreak in every match? And does that mean anything? FEDERER:
I can’t remember ever playing tiebreak in every match until the final.
The matches are tough here and I’m already quite tired. So, I’m even
more relieved. Something would have to go wrong only once or I would
have to lose concentration only once and I would be out already.
Q: Would you rate it as one of your biggest achievements to get through this week after the French Open?
FEDERER: Yes. I don’t think it would have been a problem physically
if the matches had been easier. But now it adds the factor of fitness
to it after the last tough matches. It’s tough to control everything
physically and mentally, to stay focused and in the end win the
matches. That’s why it’s such a huge success to be in the final and of
course I want to win the final in order to win a tournament four times
in a row which I haven’t achieved so far in my career.
Q: What impression did you have of Tommy Haas? FEDERER: A very
good one. He demanded a lot of me. I had to play my best tennis in the
important situations. Unfortunately I couldn’t close the match earlier,
but he is a really good player. He did not surprise me. I rate him a
player, who can beat me on any given day. So, I think it was a great
performance on his behalf.
Q: Apart from Nadal it has been a long time that somebody beat you. Doesn’t the series of finals make you feel uncomfortable? FEDERER:
No, not really because I think positive. If you look back there were
quite a few finals I played where I was lucky. For instance Shanghai
when I came with a torn ligament, could hardly run and somehow managed
to be fit. Or here. You would have to study the matches to see that a
lot of matches were very close. That I still made it to the finals
shows my enormous mental as well as physical strength. So, that’s a
good sign for the future.
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