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Monday, 3 July, 2006
Wimbledon Fourth Round
By ASAP Sports
R. FEDERER/T. Berdych 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
THE MODERATOR: Roger Federer.
Q. Is that close to your top level, or do you still have a little head room yet, you think? ROGER
FEDERER: Uhm, well, today was kind of an awkward match, you know. I
think he was struggling with his shoulder. It was obvious to me early
on. Didn't know exactly what it was in the beginning, bothered him on
his serve. I cannot say it was my best match, no. The first couple
matches were much better than this, but that had something to do with
the way of his game, you know. I knew that sort of after I won the
second I was through and it was just a matter of time until I got the
break. In the end, I'm pretty pleased to have had an easy day. Q. You were out hitting him off the ground. Do you think the shoulder affected him? ROGER
FEDERER: No, I don't think so. But off the baseline, I usually beat
many of them, you know. And especially on grass I know exactly how to
play. I was already way better than him in Halle, you know. During the
finals, I played aggressive there. Obviously, with my variety he
struggles a little bit. So I tried to take advantage of that, too. For
this reason, it was good that he didn't serve so well today. I could
get into the rallies. There, I thought I was the better player. Q. Can you say something about the courts? ROGER FEDERER: About the courts? Q. Yeah. ROGER
FEDERER: Yeah, a little slippery now. But I guess that's normal with
the heat we've had. The courts now obviously changed over the weekend a
bit. They're more dry. The bounce is a little bit higher, you know.
Haven't played for two days, Centre Court and stuff, or more even
because I was on Court 1. It was a little bit of an adjustment I had to
make. Q. Is it slower? ROGER FEDERER: I wouldn't think so, no. Q.
It's a long way off, of course, but if this were to come down to a
final between you and Rafael Nadal, what do you think that would do for
the development of the rivalry, how might that fuel even more interest
in men's tennis? ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, it's not all
me and him, you know. Even though the attention was very big throughout
the clay court season because we played in three finals, and before
that just leading up we were playing in Dubai, too, in the finals.
Obviously, it would be sort of interesting now on grass, you know. We
don't know how good he still is, you know, because he had a pretty good
draw so far, even though Andre, you know, is a tough player. Obviously,
if he made the final, that would be quite a surprise, I think, to many,
even though, you know, he's such a good player that you could expect
him to. Q. To what degree would it surprise even you? ROGER FEDERER: Well, to a certain degree (smiling). Q. Can you elaborate? ROGER
FEDERER: No, I mean, he hits the ball so well, you know. He's a good
mover. So obviously, he's got, you know, that strength going for him.
And then obviously the confidence and everything. So that makes a big
difference in the game. Q. Do you feel like you've been tested at all so far, having not dropped a set? ROGER
FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, I've had some. I think going into the match, you
know, you always feel like, This is gonna be a test. After one set and
a half, you start to feel like you're in control. So I have been
tested, yes, absolutely. Q. Last year three of the four
finalists were Americans, and obviously yourself. This year, there's no
Americans left. Are you surprised, especially considering their record
here in the past in Wimbledon? ROGER FEDERER:
Yeah, I am. I mean, I think it's quite a disappointment, you know. We
know that it can happen at the French Open, but now, you know, seeing
that it happening in Wimbledon is obviously a bit of a surprise. The
women's side, you know, you're missing Serena, you're missing Lindsay.
Andy obviously was a bit of a surprise. I mean, it's
disappointing because I like seeing the Americans, you know, going far.
They've had a great history, you know, almost in any Grand Slam to play
well, especially with Pete and Andre, Courier and Chang, all these guys
around. So, yeah, I hope it's gonna be better for them at the US Open. Q. What are your thoughts about your next match, depending on which way it goes here? ROGER
FEDERER: Uhm, yeah, I mean, tough match. I mean, I have a tough draw. I
knew that. So I think no matter who wins this one, it's a tough match.
Djokovic has come a long way since I played him in Monaco in the first
round. Ancic, obviously he's got the grass court expertise. It's gonna
be a tough match. Q. You're always struggling to stay on top.
You're No. 1. The only way you can go is down, if you like. In a way,
maybe you can answer this better than anybody because you struggle with
the pressures. Andy Murray is the great British hope. He's feeling a
lot of pressure from the press. We may have seen the result of that
this evening. How do you think the pressure from the press and the
expectations of a nation can weigh on a player? ROGER
FEDERER: Well, you start questioning yourself. You start to believe
it's true, what they write, you know. I often, you know the media is
accurate and everything, but it starts to brainwash you, you know, in a
way. That can the more you read about it, especially about yourself,
the more it makes you think, you know. I used to love reading
everything about me and stuff. So I kind of stopped doing that because
even, you know, press conferences sometimes are tough to do on a daily
basis because you feel you're talking about you know, to a psychiatrist
or something, you know, coming in. And then you come out and you say, I
can't believe I just said that or something. I know how he feels. It's kind of difficult. Q.
The volume from the crowd after the match rose a little bit when you
put that jacket on. What kind of reaction have you gotten to it? ROGER
FEDERER: They like it. I like it, too. It's a great idea. I mean, I
didn't think the match was that terrific, you know, but still there was
all of a sudden a standing ovation. And when I put the jacket on, I
thought like they wanted to see more, you know, with the jacket. So I
thought, okay, I turned around, gave one more wave. It was cool. Q. Start your own clothes line? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I got to talk to Nike about it (smiling). Q. Do you wear the jacket when you go out? ROGER
FEDERER: Yeah. Like, oh, in the evening? Maybe I'll start doing that,
too (laughing). I mean, I wear a lot of jackets, but I haven't worn
that one yet to go out. Why not? Q. The red cap go with it? ROGER FEDERER: No, I don't that's not a great look. Q. How do you feel about possibly meeting Ancic? ROGER
FEDERER: I feel okay. I mean, we've had some tough matches in the past.
We just played each other at the French Open. Obviously, that's very
different to what we're gonna see here. Yeah, well, the biggest memory
probably is he's the last guy I lost to on grass, so I think that's
that will be the headline, so I'll leave it up to you (smiling).
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