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Wednesday, 5 July, 2006
Wimbledon Quarterfinal
By ASAP Sports
R. FEDERER/M. Ancic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
THE MODERATOR: Roger Federer for you.
Q. Is that the best you've played at Wimbledon so far, Roger? ROGER FEDERER: Ever? Q. No, this Wimbledon. ROGER
FEDERER: This Wimbledon, so hard to compare, you know, one player with
another. But I definitely had a period where, you know, it was so good,
you know, it was just incredible. So usually sort of rain delays,
they slow you down and everything, but they actually gave me more. I
played even better. So, I mean, I was very, very pleased. It was an
incredible performance. Yeah, that was quite a good performance.
Q. Roger, how early this morning did you know it was raining, and what
then becomes your attitude when you know that's going to happen today? ROGER
FEDERER: Well, you hear the day before that it might be bad, so
actually I woke up during the night and I saw it was thunderstorms, you
know. So when I woke up, obviously I wasn't surprised to see rain.
But, uhm, you know, when I left the house at 11 o'clock or 10:30, I saw
it kind of stopped already so I knew that it could be on time. You
know, being first on, it doesn't really matter much because you got to
be there on time, you have to make sure you're ready in case you have
to play at 1 o'clock. That's what I was. I just hope that we're not gonna come on and off for five, six times. It was only a couple of times, and it was okay like this. Q. How did having lost to him before here affect your approach to this match and your feelings about how you wanted to play? ROGER
FEDERER: Uhm, not much really. I just knew the danger of playing
against him, you know, like everybody else, they knew that he could be
dangerous. He has a great serve, he's got the game on grass, he can
volley, he plays aggressive on everything, takes chances and so forth.
So I knew that this could be a very tricky match if I don't get off to
a good start. I didn't think much of the match here four years ago. It
was just too long ago. I think that was in my favor really.
Q. Do you think serve and volley tennis is slowly getting redundant?
Not necessarily 'redundant,' but getting harder to win with serve and
volley? ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, we are brought up, you
know, if you have an hour practice, you hit 50 minutes from the
baseline and maybe 10 minutes at net. So that's already how we are
brought up. Then obviously conditions are slower than they used to be,
so it's normal that we don't see so many guys at the net anymore
because you just don't feel so comfortable. Q. I once heard
you say after a very extraordinary performance that you had surprised
yourself. So I'm wondering, did you hit some shots today in that match
that actually surprised you? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, plenty (smiling).
When you get surprised, I get surprised, too, you know. It's not the
ordinary when he comes to the net and every time you pass him. It's
like really been working well for me this whole tournament. I've been
serving excellent. I've been returning good, especially passing shots
have been incredible. So that's obviously on the passing shot where I
get surprised myself the most. Q. When you're in that kind of
mode and playing like that, how does the game feel to you? How
differently does it feel to just normal times? Is it the way you're
seeing the ball? Is it almost an out of body experience? Walk us
through what it feels like to play like that. ROGER FEDERER:
Well, you get to feel that you're absolutely in control, and there's a
sense of confidence, you know. It's like when you're playing with the
home crowd sort of, you're not afraid to try anything, you're not
afraid to hit the ball hard, you're not afraid to go for aces. That's
the sensation you get when you're playing so well. That's exactly what
I felt today. I always felt in control, except in the end a little bit,
but I knew that a moment of uncertainty will come along because he will
be able to hit more freely because he's basically already told himself
he lost. So I had to just be very careful. I was happy that I was able to finish it off in three sets.
Q. When did you think that you and Wimbledon became a comfortable fit?
When did you think the whole thing became a fit for you here? ROGER
FEDERER: Uhm, I guess after my first win here in '03. Before that, I
enjoyed coming here but I still had three first round losses after all,
you know, the quarters in 2001. But it's not maybe until I passed that
quarterfinal stage until I got really comfortable, and maybe that match
against Andy in the semis here in 2003. That really opened the door for
me to know that I can play incredible tennis on grass. Q. You said that rain interruptions kind of helped you. What did you do during that rain delays? ROGER FEDERER: Nothing different to Mario. We were sitting there together, so... Q. Just waiting? ROGER
FEDERER: I was waiting. Obviously, I chatted to Tony a little bit, if I
have to keep it up, change a few things or if I have to eat something
and so forth. So, no, the rain delays were pretty easy today. You always knew pretty much when you're gonna go on, so it was no problems.
Q. Knowing you were playing Mario today, do you alter your practice
routine, do you practice with someone who's going to hit more passing
shots or come to the net more often or was it a normal practice routine
for you since your last match? ROGER FEDERER: I hit with Tony
yesterday, and I warmed up with him this morning. So he's a lefty,
Mario is a righty (laughter). I don't know if that's the best
preparation, but it seemed like it worked. Q. Hard to imagine Tony getting to the net as fast as Mario. ROGER
FEDERER: Once he's at the net, he's better than everybody. He's better
than me. Shocking, you know (laughing). But, no, it was we worked
actually on the passing shots yesterday, so it was good fun to hit with
him. Q. The American golfer Fred Couples was watching
today. He was amazed by your performance. He compared it with Tiger
Woods, the other athlete who's dominated an individual sport. Have you
ever seen Tiger play? Can you reflect on his artistry and craftsmanship? ROGER
FEDERER: No, we never got to meet, unfortunately. We almost got to do
it in Shanghai last year. We were there at the same time. We were also
in Dubai at the same time. I guess our schedules are pretty packed. But
obviously I enjoy watching him, too. The sport of golf, being able to
elevate it somewhere where you didn't think it was possible maybe ten
years ago. The way he plays, I enjoy it very much. So obviously I take that as a compliment, what Fred Couples said.
Q. I believe Michael Stich during the rain break saw you watching the
telly. John McEnroe was praising you. Eventually, you became
uncomfortable because he was going on and on about how good you were.
How does that feel, to hear him say good things? ROGER
FEDERER: He says he beats half of the players blindfolded, you know, I
was like, Yeah, right, you know. We're not that far yet. It was
just funny because it's not only you watching, it's everybody watching
and listening and everything. So you just want to go somewhere, you
know, listen to it. But, I mean, we have a fun sort of a locker
room here in Wimbledon. We get along very well, you know. We joke
around a lot. Obviously, when stuff like this comes up, I rather make
the comment myself than somebody else does it. Q. Joking
around, any of your opponents suggest you play in the jacket rather
than leave it on the back of the chair just to give them a chance? ROGER FEDERER: Maybe I can still try that out, you know, maybe some other time. But it's not the time for jokes now.
Q. We're all starting to think that you might get through this whole
thing without losing a set. Did you begin to think the same? ROGER
FEDERER: No, not really. Maybe the next round sort of looks like it's
opened up a bit, you know. I'm obviously a big favorite for the
upcoming semifinal no matter who wins. But both could be tricky on
grass. They have the experience. They have the all around game. They
like to come to the net as well, mix it up and stuff. It can be very
tricky. I guess if I keep this sort of a performance, I don't see
myself losing. But, look, again, it's Wimbledon. It's the
semifinals. You don't want to underestimate anybody. I hope I can keep
this level of play up really. Q. Was your first experience on grass here in the Juniors? ROGER FEDERER: I got an invitation to Queen's in '98 first, and then I played the Roehampton tournament. Q. What was your reaction to grass at first? ROGER
FEDERER: All right (smiling). I mean, I was sort of very happy to
finally get the opportunity to play on grass because that was always
like a dream, you know, to see is it gonna work out for you, is it not?
I felt like it was a pretty good surface for me. I lost the second
round of the invitation in Queen's and lost in the semis against Taylor
Dent in Roehampton. This is where I felt like, yeah, grass is actually
working out fine for me. When I got to Wimbledon, I felt very
good, confident, and I was actually the big favorite also to win, and I
did. So actually grass came very naturally, very quickly for me. Q. Still about grass, what do you think about the Italian performance in the World Cup (laughter)? ROGER FEDERER: I was very happy for you guys (smiling). Forza Italia.
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