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Thursday, April 20 , 2006
Monte Carlo AMS Third Round
By ASAP Sports
R. FEDERER/B. Balleret
6-3, 6-2
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Roger, were you surprised how well he played?
ROGER FEDERER: Obviously not, you know, because, as I said, I'm not
going to underestimate him. I thought he played very well for one and a
half sets until he played a couple loose games, where I took advantage
of it.
But for one and a half
sets, it was a tough match and I really had to play good tennis. So I'm
happy the way I played and the way I handled the situation because it
wasn't easy. I had a similar one in Dubai where I played against a guy ranked 490 in the world and I should have lost the first set basically.
So little bit used to the situation, and it's definitely not an easy one to be in.
Q. Are you surprised at someone, I think he's 23, who's done nothing
much before, he can go out and play you in a big match on a big center
court like that?
ROGER
FEDERER: No, I mean, it's basically the day he's been waiting for his
whole life. So he's going to come out there and try to of course beat
me, not just play with me.
You
know, I think men's tennis, or also maybe women's tennis - I can't
really talk about them too much - but I think, you know, when you
go back all the way to the ranking six, 700, we can practice with them
without a problem and also play practice matches, and they're very
close. It's just in the matches you never get to play them. And when
you do, the media is right there, especially if you're No. 1 in the
world, and they put pressure on you. Same for yourself, because if you
look back on the season, and you have a loss against a guy who is
ranked 350 in the world, you know, you might think, What happened.
But there's quite a depth in men's tennis and it doesn't make it any easier for us.
Q. Tomorrow marks the 12-month anniversary of your last Masters Series defeat. How proud are you of that streak, of all your records?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, it's nice, but not the most important obviously. I missed out on quite a few Masters Series after all, you know.
But, obviously, every time I step on the court in a Masters Series,
I know how important they are and I try to do well. It just really
shows that I've been, when it really mattered, I've been playing
fantastic tennis.
I didn't actually know that stat, so it's nice to have.
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