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Saturday, March 25, 2006
Miami AMS Second Round
By ASAP Sports
R. FEDERER/A. Clement
6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-0
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
THE MODERATOR: Questions,
please.
Q. You just trying to make it
interesting with that second set? I mean,
obviously, the wind was a problem. I know
Arnaud has beaten you in the past. What
happened in the end of that second set?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean,
everything was going fine till 4-Love in the
tiebreaker so. I mean, conditions were tough in
the end because sun was very low and wind was --
there was quite a breeze out there. The one end
was definitely an advantage, you know, the one
end I actually was up 4-Love and 4-2. Obviously,
he had the better side after that, but I was
hoping to have a big enough lead to sort of take
advantage of it.
Again, I thought he played
pretty well to come back there, and he really
guessed well on a few returns. It was already
close, I thought, in the first set, you know. So
it looked everything could have gone, you
know -- the match could have been over very
quickly. But, you know, he hung in there and he
played well, I thought.
The beginning of the third
set, obviously, it was like a really open match,
and I was obviously hoping for a good start. I'm
really happy I got it.
Q. Did the challenge
system -- what did you think of the challenge
system? Did it bother you? Were you into it?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, it's
there, right? It's always in your mind at the
moment, especially the more you talk about it.
But I'm sort of neutral. I
like to give it some time because at one stage
it wasn't working, you know, for a game, and
then it was working again. Obviously, that's
something that is not acceptable, you know, for
us players, playing with our minds, I think, you
know.
Then, obviously, I was happy.
I got the one call for me. I felt a little bit
embarrassed I didn't get the other call, you
know, because I don't like challenging. If a
ball is out, I challenge it. It happened.
So, anyway, got to give it
time, I guess.
Q. Is there a time limit on
the challenge? It looked like he wanted to call
it on the changeover.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, well,
that's exactly when it gets a little
complicated. We're both sitting down, he's
challenging a call? I mean, that's a little bit
awkward, isn't it?
Q. That second one, it turned
out you were wrong. Did you feel you were
definitely going to be right? Were you
surprised?
ROGER FEDERER: I was
surprised, yes.
Q. You felt good about the
third set. You turned it up a notch?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean,
absolutely. Especially at the mid through and
then at the end played well. Obviously, I could
play a bit more freely because I was up a break
or up a double break. Also, then it was easier
to play, honestly, because the sun was gone, we
were playing in the shade. It was perfect
conditions then.
So I was very pleased with
actually my all-around performance, you know,
because I've had some tough matches with
Arnaud in the past.
Q. Your next opponent is
Tommy Haas. Obviously, playing really well
this year. You've had some good battles. Talk
about that.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean,
I've had some good ones with Tommy,
especially at the beginning of the year,
especially the Australian Open. So
looking forward to that challenge against him.
He always usually plays good on the
American hard courts. He won a couple
tournaments here.
So definitely got to, you
know, be ready for a good match. And, again, you
know, he's a good player, especially this year.
Q. What happened in the
tiebreak? You were up 4-0, dropped seven points
in a row. Was there anything...
ROGER FEDERER: I think in the
end, deciding point was the one I think I was
serving at. I think it was -- I was serving at
4-Love, I think, and I lose that point. On
serve, I think with the wind I shouldn't lose
that point. I think if I do, if I lead 5-1
instead of 4-2 at the change of ends, I think I
will win the tiebreaker.
But, you know, he did well to
hang in there. In the end, obviously, it didn't
go my way. I didn't serve like I should have,
and he didn't miss. It was a good performance in
the breaker in the end for him.
Q. Roger, do you feel
over the last four or five years that the hard
court surfaces have been made to play slower as
well as the balls? Do you feel that's been a
factor in your game at all?
ROGER FEDERER: No, I feel
like the conditions have been pretty much the
same since I came on tour. They had some -- I
thought they had some issues with the balls at
one stage where they were really flat and I
really couldn't get the spin on the ball, but
that's been gone for a while now.
No, other than that, it's
been pretty much the same. It's just my game has
become better, and by becoming better, I have
the feeling, you know, the conditions have
slowed down because I have more time, because I
am more sure about my own game, which in the
beginning, soon as there was wind and sun and
everything, I always felt like I couldn't play
from the baseline. That's changed over the
years.
Q. Coming on to the court
today, was there anything in your mind thinking,
"Clijsters lost here," "Hewitt
lost here," "Nadal lost here," "Henin
lost here." "Maybe I'm next"?
ROGER FEDERER: A little bit
maybe. Yeah, because Kim was the
defending champion after all. With Rafael
losing, he was in the finals last year. I
thought, "Have conditions changed here or what?"
I didn't feel it, like they did. It's good to
see upsets, too, sometimes as long as it doesn't
hit you.
I was pleased with the
performance. Yeah, I was ready for a tough match
today with Arnaud. Like I said,
he's been a tough competitor for me.
Q. Getting back to the
challenges for a minute, would you ever
challenge if you weren't completely sure, like
if it was late in the set and you had one left
and it was a close call, but you weren't sure?
Would you challenge anyway?
ROGER FEDERER: Probably not,
no. I think you should really only use them when
you're 100% sure.
Q. You think it's going to
prevent chair umpires from overruling because
why should they, they'll think?
ROGER FEDERER: Little bit
maybe, yeah. I mean, my big wish from this whole
thing is that the fans sort of don't take this
as a game, you know, because it happens so
rarely that they shouldn't be screaming you
know, like, "Oh, challenge that," or, "Challenge
this." Like when there is close calls, they
don't applaud anymore because they think there
is going to be a challenge. I feel like that's
sometimes a little bit of a problem right now.
For this reason I'm saying
let's wait and see how it goes. If the people
wait too much for the calls, you know, and don't
really care about the shots anymore, this is
when I tend to get a little bit pessimistic
about the whole thing.
Q. Roger, everybody
seems to be respecting you a lot, all the other
players. What do you feel about that?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, it's
good to be respected, you know.
Q. Like a special thing?
ROGER FEDERER: No, I mean,
it's a normal thing, you know. We all have
respect for each other, you know. It's not
like --
Q. Like your game.
ROGER FEDERER: The game, I
guess, you know, when you're up at the
rankings - it's not only for me, it's for all
the guys - they feel like they achieved
something good, you know, and maybe other
players admire things you do. I also admire
other things in other players. So I think that's
just the way it goes. We all love the sport, so
I think we all happy we all compete so we can
really see who is the best in the game.
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