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Sunday, September 3, 2006
US Open Third Round
By ASAP Sports
R. FEDERER/V. Spadea 6-3, 6-3, 6-0
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. You kind of had some more fun moments, overhead smash. Nice to have some moments like that in a Slam match? ROGER
FEDERER: Well, I mean, I think it was a great atmosphere out on
Armstrong. I've had some great matches out there, you know, playing
against Ferrero years ago, like six years ago. Other ones, too. The
crowd's much closer to you. There's less space behind you. They're much
more into it. So it's good for a change again to play on that court.
You know, that good rallies that turn up, that's usual. But overhead
smashes and stuff is always good fun, yeah. Q. Talk about being
down 2 3 and breakpoint way, way early in the match in the first set.
Were you aware of, Okay, I'm gonna what was going through your mind at
that point, nothing? ROGER FEDERER: Well, I guess, just try to
serve well and try not to get behind. If you do, it's okay. Then try to
fight back, you know. You're not overpositive or anything, you're
just normal situation. You try to deal with it. I think I did well
today. I didn't concede a break. I think that was key to the match,
especially in the first two sets. Q. Can you talk about your form going into the second week. You're playing extremely well. Are you personally happy with it? ROGER
FEDERER: Yeah, no, I'm very happy. Not losing a set the first three
rounds, that's always awesome, you know. From now on, you try to keep
it up. Of course the rounds are getting tougher. Even though I don't
know my opponent very much in the next round, I've seen him play a
little bit today, obviously, you know. And then also that Kiefer match
at the French Open where he played, you know, five sets. So I know a
little bit about him. But the rounds are definitely getting
tougher. Now either you play the guy with more experience, a guy with
momentum, something is getting tougher. I have to be ready for it. Q. Are you one of those people that likes a tough first week match or are you satisfied with blowing through them? ROGER FEDERER: I prefer the second part (smiling). Q.
Did you get to soak up the atmosphere of Agassi's farewell match?
Getting to play so late, other guys were going on after that match or
playing during it. ROGER FEDERER: I was in the city. I saw the
first set. I came back just when he was sitting in the press
conference. I basically missed the end, unfortunately, you know. But
the other matches, I've seen them all. This time around I had to go for
lunch and stuff. I decided to go out of the room, you know. I was
hoping by the time I come back he's in the fifth set and everything. But,
yeah, I mean, in a way it's a pity, you know. But in a way also,
expected, you know, that after all these tough matches, it's gonna
catch up with him. I don't think the result matters too much in the
end. It's his fantastic career. We all dream about a career like he
had. Q. To achieve such a level as yours, to be a great
formation behind you, tell me, do your coaches, when you were a kid,
told you to be merciless or to look for perfection? There's no way that
you can just let a guy just go away with it, you know. ROGER
FEDERER: I had different type of coaches, you know, growing up, of
course, with different temper. I think it's for me anyway it worked out
good because I had very nice coaches early on, then I had a tougher
coach from 14 years old till 16. This was a time when I really improved
a lot. I was growing. I was getting stronger. I started to understand,
you know, what tennis is all about, you know, how it works. From
16 years old, you know, I had a coach which was very quiet. Gave me
advice on technique and tactics. I think that was also key at that
stage. Then later on I was with Lundgren who knew the game from playing
himself, you know, out on the tour. I think I've always had pretty
much the coaches at the right time. I think now with Tony Roche, I can
just really tune up all the little things. That's key right now. Try to
get overall more and more solid. I think I've been very lucky with the
coaches, coaching situation over the years. Q. Is there one thing above all that you admire about Andre and his career? ROGER
FEDERER: Uhm, I guess winning the four Slams is what stands out the
most, and the length of the career, you know. He played through three
generations. You know, his foundation, what he's been able to do in a
very short time. I think it's been maybe eight or nine years since he
has it, and he's been able to raise an incredible amount of money and,
you know, help kids and everything. These are for me the things that
stand out most. Q. You mentioned your coaches. You had Peter,
won Grand Slams. You went without a coach, won Grand Slams. You're with
Tony now, won Grand Slams. Has it mattered, having a coach or not? Why
at those particular points did you decide to go with or without a coach? ROGER
FEDERER: Well, I guess things like this happen naturally, you know. You
can't plan an entire career. There's always things like that that
happen, you know. Fortunately or unfortunately, you know, I lost, you
know, a Davis Cup captain really through an accident. Then, you know,
it was just time to kind of move on with Lundgren, you know. After
that, I didn't have anybody really in mind, you know. I just knew that
the time came for us to stop. Look, I don't want to rush into a
coaching decision, you know. I want to take my time. I'm not in the
mood to go three months with a coach and then move on. I decided to
wait. I was quite lucky actually to get Tony Roche in the end, which
was good for me. I'm happy to be working with him, you know, for the
second year running. He confirmed that he's gonna do it, you know, next
year as well, which is great. I'm surprised he still does it, you
know, because he's getting older and older and he's done it so often
with Lendl and Rafter. It's a great pleasure to work with him.
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