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Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Kooyong Quarterfinal
By AAMI Classic Official Site
R. FEDERER/T. Haas 6-3, 4-6, 4-6
ROGER FEDERER PRESS CONFERENCE 11/1/06:
Q: You looked to be struggling to get your rhythm going today, Roger, was that part and parcel of arriving in Australia, or was there something a bit more going on for you?
A: I didn't think I played that bad; I think I played pretty good in the first set. I was struggling for rhythm in the beginning, just the first maybe six games or so, started to get better and I broke him twice in a row to win the set and I think he was really struggling in the beginning to really put away his shots and stuff and that allowed me to really get on top of him and I think he played good after that, he hardly missed a ball and served consistently so made it hard for me. I wasn't ‑ maybe going for my serve the way I should have but it's hard, I've arrived late and if I think back the last couple of years always my first round here in Kooyong has always been a struggle against Gaudio last year, and the year before I think it was Johannsen, also I very close at losing so I guess a three setter is the usual thing I do here when I open up but just this time I lost.
Q: Was there any ankle soreness at all today?
A: No, I'm happy and arriving here and I played the match through without any pain and also not getting injured is obviously also a concern, with all the injury problems we have in men's tennis at the moment so I'm happy to still be standing.
Q: You beat him three and three in Doha just recently ‑ ‑ ‑
A: It was couple of days ago.
Q: What was the difference in that match compared to today?
A: Obviously a little different conditions. It's in a semi final so I'm already playing better, for sure, but it was a close match ‑ three and three doesn't really show how tough it was ‑ I really had to fight and play a good match back there and obviously I served better than today and it was in the night so obviously that changes too and the surface wasn't bouncing as high as here so it was a little easier to keep the ball in play so many small things made a difference but I was looking good for a while there but he came back strong today.
Q: Is this a setback at all?
A: No, it's not.
Q: Roger, do you think that Tommy could actually come back into the top 10?
A: Oh, yeah, for sure. I think he's a good player and he has had a lot of injury problems. I played him just before he got injured for, I don't know how long he was injured for, at least a year, a year and a half, and I always thought he was a good player. He beat me on a couple of big occasions, like here at the Aussie Open, I think fourth round, 9‑7 in the fifth where I had match point and I was really coming strong then, I was just becoming a good player and then he beat me at the Olympics, convincing also in Australia, so he beat me a third time in Australia, I guess that's why, now I've realised why I lost; he's better in Australia.
Q: Is there a sense of disappointment that you won't get a chance to play Marat again at the Australian Open?
A: Has he pulled out?
Q: Well, it's on his web site that he has.
A: Promoting his web site. Obviously if he pulls out that will be a disappointment. Already disappointing Rafael is pulling out, it's always a pity if number two player pulls out, then obviously the defending champion too, these are too big blows for the Aussie Open and for the tournament but again we saw that coming too so it's not that much of a disappointment, we still have good players here with myself, Lleyton, Andy. Andre obviously pulling out too, that hurts I think too so that's how it goes sometimes and it's a pity they couldn't recuperate but it really shows that the injuries they had at the Masters Cup in Shanghai were serious injuries and not just, like maybe some people thought tired of the season, let's have a longer break, so really honest guys, which is good to see.
Q: Does it show ... how the tour program needs to be revamped and a shorter season when we're seeing injury after injury?
A: I think it's just unfortunate at the moment. How often does it happen that half of the top guys are injured? It's never really happening and if you look back at the injuries they have, they are injuries that have been coming for a long time, like Marat's knee, he has been struggling for a long time, same as Rafael's foot, he had that problem before where I think Andre got unlucky so it all adds up and we all think it's the tour in the end. I don't quite agree with it because it's been like this for years and years and years and the issue comes up when there is a few guys injured but I think if you're playing carefully and you're fit, you shouldn't have too many injuries because you can always plan if you want to play more or less, you can always take wild cards, you can always pull out, there is a chance to do that.
Q: We saw with Nadal and Safin, if they were healthy and hadn't played a tournament for three months, is it possible for a guy like that to come into a Grand Slam, not having played for three months, and have a chance to win a Grand Slam?
A: Absolutely. If you're that calibre of player you can do it. Three months is not that much. I think six months it gets very difficult but three, I think once you get underway that's the difficult part and I think at the end of the injury for a Grand Slam I think they would have had enough time to prepare, it obviously depends on the preparation. If you're just coming back from injury like I did, from my injury last year with the ankle, that was obviously hard because I barely could practice so I think the preparation is what really matters.
Q: Can you take us back a little bit to what you did after Shanghai, how you spent the month of December and when did you start hitting again?
A: I was two and a half weeks on vacation, was home for 10 days in Switzerland, started to work out with a condition trainer for 10 days, hit a few times, maybe three times in total, then I went to Tony, about the 20th I left and I was there for 10 days, and I was on Sunday before Doha so I hit every day, focused really just on playing tennis so Doha and then here.
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