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Sunday, November 12, 2006
Masters Cup Shanghai Round Rubin
By ASAP Sports
R. FEDERER/D. Nalbandian
3-6, 6-1, 6-1
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. You lost the first set but then came back strong in the
second and third. How do you do that?
ROGER FEDERER: I guess you hang in there. It was a tough
start, you know, to the tournament in the first set with David.
I thought, you know, he returned well. He really took my second
serve and returned it easily.
Also from the baseline I think he just had the upper hand, you know.
Obviously, him being such a good and consistent and tough
player, he's gonna win the set.
So I tried to get a break early in the second set, that's what I was
able to do, and hang on to it. I really got on top of him after
that. In the third set, I think the momentum was on my side, and
I was able to also play more freely. It was easier for me then.
I found the rhythm. I start to serve better. Also
he let go a little bit, which helped me. So I think that's
pretty much the summary of the match.
Q. You said yesterday the difference between you now and you a
little while ago when perhaps you were losing to him was that you don't
panic now. Was that a factor today?
ROGER FEDERER: I think so, yeah, because probably still a couple
years ago I would think, "Oh, I don't know what to do, I don't have the
key." I know maybe from the baseline I'm not good enough, my
serve is not powerful enough and so forth. I would ask all sort
of questions. I would start serve and volleying him, chip and
charging him, everything. Thank God I don't need that anymore.
Through my mental and physical strength I was able to overcome all
these problems. Now I just hang in there and hope for the best.
It's really been the best choice that I've ever taken in tennis.
Q. How did you change that to your benefit? How did you
learn not to panic? Was it just getting the experience?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I guess just losing, winning a lot of
matches, just playing against all sorts of different players.
You always have the fast runners, the big servers, the
serve-and-volleyers, the aggressive baseliners, the counterpunchers.
I think at the beginning of your career all you're really trying
to get is a feel for how to play each and every one of them.
It's obvious that you like one style of play. But to beat all
the different styles, I think that's the hard part.
That's obviously what we have in my group, for instance. We have
David who's a great counterpuncher, an incredibly good baseliner.
Then you have the big servers. So you have to overcome
all these different obstacles if you want to be a great player.
It took me a long time, but eventually I got ahold of myself and ahold
of their games. It turned out to be a great career.
Q. The experience comes from yourself or some experts like Dr.
Freud?
ROGER FEDERER: Don't know him. Who is he?
Q. He was an expert from psychology.
ROGER FEDERER: I don't know.
Q. He was a Swiss, too.
ROGER FEDERER: Is that right? Nope, never needed him.
But, yeah, I overcome it myself because I had enough friends and family
telling me I should take it easy and whatever. Eventually, you
know, I calmed down, started to play well, and started to learn, you
know. Obviously got the belief, once I won Wimbledon in '03,
that I can maybe win more on a consistent basis, you know? So I think
that was the right moment for me to win Wimbledon.
Q. The Masters has always had this round robin format.
Next year ATP is planning to introduce 13 tournaments with round robin.
Some people are against this new format and say that when you
have to play Federer and the next day you have to play other opponents,
if you see that you cannot do it, they cannot beat you, they surrender
and save energy so that the next day they will play better, they will
have more chances against a weaker opponent. What is your
opinion about it? For instance, today you won 6-0 one set,
6-1...
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I wish.
Q. Don't you think that players will surrender too early because
they prefer to save energy for the next match against a weaker opponent
than you?
ROGER FEDERER: No, I don't think that's gonna happen. I
don't know if you've heard about how it's gonna work, the round robin.
We're not gonna be four in a group. We're gonna be three
in a group, and only one is gonna advance. If everybody loses
once, it comes down to sets really.
You have to be I think a bit lucky to come through. Actually
probably 90% of the times, a guy who wins his two matches is gonna get
through for some reason.
Look, I'm not the biggest fan of the round robin. It's a test.
I'm not playing one of those tournaments next year. Most
probably so I'll get the feedback from fans because that's what they
want to see, do the fans like it. If they do like it, we'll
probably keep it. If they don't like it, we'll probably get rid
of it. So see how it goes. I think it's worthwhile giving
it a shot. So we're waiting.
I don't think from the players' standpoint it's gonna be much of a
change really. You're gonna play to win. The only problem
is, like last year, you lose against a guy -- you beat the guy, then
you end up losing against him in the finals. That's kind of a
bit awkward. But the chances for that are always very small.
Q. (Posed by Michael Chang) Quick question for you.
With the schedule the way that it is now on the ATP Tour,
obviously will all the top players, it plays a very, very important
role as far as being healthy. That's one of the things that has
really been very good for you, to be able to go out, play tennis, be
healthy. How is it you find to be able to balance time to work
hard, taking time to rest and relax, and take time to regroup from
let's say this year and then in the Australian Open already starting in
January, how are you able to find that balance?
ROGER FEDERER: No, for me, obviously the last let's say two,
three years, have been very different to the ones I had before.
I always used to play around 25 to 30 tournaments. Now I only
play around 20 tournaments. I even played less probably the last
couple years because of injury in the fall.
I always, you know, take a lot of good care, you know, with my coach,
with my condition trainer, and obviously also with my girlfriend
because she's seen me around also for a long time. We always sit
down together and think what is the best player.
I always try to enter a minimum of tournaments, and if it goes bad I
can always play more. I hate pulling out. So I'd rather
just hope for the best to happen, and otherwise I can always get a
wildcard anywhere I want, you know.
Obviously with a year like this, it's always I'm on the edge of
vacation, of preparation, and everything. So I'm really happy
that nothing happened with injury this season because it's really one
of the first seasons I've had without any problems at all. That
gives me great hope also for next year.
I was extremely careful especially in the fall that nothing happens
again in terms of warming up, you know, taking treatment, getting early
to tournaments. I was again the first to arrive here. I
just believe that by doing this, you know, it gives me a better chance
of doing well at tournaments.
Q. Everybody talks about traveling the circuit and only seeing
hotels and the tennis court.
ROGER FEDERER: Good hotels, though (smiling).
Q. This is the second year in a row that you have come early to
Shanghai. Have you seen that much of the city yet?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I'm staying in the city, so. You
know, 'seeing a lot' I guess means seeing some restaurants. The
drive's long so you get to see a lot of things, you know.
But, yeah, I've been -- this is my third time to Shanghai. I got
to see a lot of the area, you know. In Pudong and then also on
the other side of the river, at the Bund and everything. I've
enjoyed coming here. It's been very interesting. Haven't
probably seen much of the touristic sites, such called, so maybe I'll
catch up with that maybe some other time.
Q. Were you satisfied with such revenge? The last match
in TMC last year with Nalbandian, he defeat you. This time, you
won. But it's not an easy win, actually. You were
satisfied with such match, such result, and your performances?
ROGER FEDERER: I think the performance was good, yeah. I
mean, coming through as the winner in the first match is always, I
think, crucial in the round robin because the first match obviously
everybody's at a hundred percent, wants to get off to a good start.
Maybe when you play somebody as the third time like I played
Coria last year, you know he's kinda down, he lost two matches, he
knows he's out, it's maybe easier to beat this guy.
For me today the reason to win today was huge. I was happy to
come through. Like I is explained in the beginning, he had some
difficulties at the end. But I don't feel much of a revenge
because he could come back and beat me again in the semis or the final
if he plays well again. Let's see what happens in the next few
days.
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