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August 18, 2007
Cincinnati AMS Semifinal
By ASAP Sports
R. FEDERER/L. Hewitt 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-1)
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. There were no bloody knuckles today, but it was quite the fight, wouldn't you say?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah. It was quite a fight. It was a good match I
thought. I think it was the best match I've played this week, no doubt.
And he always makes you play good, too. He gives you the rhythm, and at
the same time at one stage he gives you too much rhythm where you're
going to have it to miss eventually.
I think he played well, too, you know. It was a pity I couldn't close
it out in straight sets, but in the end I got to be happy I came
through after all. It's nice to win a third-set tiebreaker after losing
one last week.
Yeah, I kept pushing him and finally he kind of made started making
some mistakes in the tiebreak at the most important moments, which was
good for me.
Q. In the third set, it looked like after you went a break down you became more aggressive and went for a few more shots.
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I thought -- the baseline rallies weren't going
the way I liked. He was just being steady and eventually I would miss
or he would play a little bit more aggressive and I would be in
trouble.
Because I wasn't hitting the ball my best all week, but I just thought,
I have to start unloading a little bit on the forehand or the backhand
side long line, because I was hanging too much with him cross-court and
he was beating me.
So then I was happy it worked. And on a couple of occasions I came back
into the match and should have won earlier after having 15-40 a couple
times. Yeah, but it needed a tiebreaker because he hangs in there. He's
like a cat with seven lives, you know. Nine lives? How many do they
have?
Q. Nine.
ROGER FEDERER: Nine. Yeah, I thought so. It was nine. Seven would have been easy. My God.
Q. But you served very well. ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I knew
that. Again, heading into the match I knew I had to serve well. Same
thing happened in Montreal. Basically won the match because I served
well and got free points once in a while where I really served pretty
well and I make him work hard.
So it's good for me when serve well, because he does return great off
my second serve even though it's a good serve. I often got out of
trouble because of it, no doubt.
Q. Your 15-nil against the finalist, whoever that's going to be.
6-9 and whatever. How do you feel going in? Obviously pretty good.
ROGER FEDERER: For me it was to be expected that Davydenko and Blake
were going to make the semis, even though Blake struggled. But really I
don't know who to pick tonight.
Apparently Blake has a good record against Davydenko himself too, so
I'd almost have to pick him. Especially playing in the States. James
really plays well. But playing either one, they've been part of big
tournaments, big matches. They'll handle the situation tomorrow without
a problem.
I just hope I can keep a clean sheet, I guess, I against him and win the tournament.
Q. What does 50 mean to you?
ROGER FEDERER: In terms of like, the number or 50 titles?
Q. I was talking about the titles. ROGER FEDERER: It's a
very special number for sure. Half a century is kind of cool. Had the
chance last week. I was only a few point away. I'm back into a great
position. Only one match away. Hopefully I can do it this time.
Haven't been thinking about it too much honestly the last few weeks or months, but it would nice to get it here. Absolutely.
Q. You said that Lleyton played very steady against you. But do you
also feel that he tries to take the initiative more against you these
days than he used to? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah. I thought he
played much more aggressive actually last week. I expected him to come
out and play aggressive today, and he didn't really do that too much
today.
He played steady off the baseline. The court is really quick so you
almost don't have to overdo it because the ball shoots itself through
the court if you hit a decent ball.
So I was actually surprised how little he came to the net. But, again,
because the surface is hard you just cannot move in and just come to
the net. You have to come in on a about good ball too, because it's
hard it make the opponent move.
So, no, I was actually a bit surprised to what extent he didn't play
aggressive, but usually he does, yeah, more than he used to.
Q. How do you feel that he handled the adversity of the foot faults on some big points in the tiebreak?
ROGER FEDERER: Look, seriously I don't understand how that can happen
to you. I stand behind the line so much that it's never going to happen
to me. Almost every serve I think about it. Maybe cost him the match
today. Who knows. He's got to change that.
Q. You said you thought this was your best match here this week. How difficult or not has it been to play here this week?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, it went from night to hot day to normal day to
today. So it's been quite a ride for me. But, you know, especially when
it's really hot too. The ball bounces and maybe the ball will travels
through the air quicker.
That's maybe also one of the reasons I struggled with Baghdatis was my
rhythm. The opponent maybe played a bit differently, too. But, yeah, by
now really I've gotten used to the court speed and I'm reading his
serve, the opponent's serve, much better. In the beginning I couldn't
read one thing, you know, so it always takes a while sometimes.
Q. Do you think after last weekend and the way you played today
that Lleyton becomes one of biggest challenges to your title in New
York? ROGER FEDERER: I don't know. I always see ten, fifteen
guys being able to win every Grand Slam. But then again, I have to
focus on round by round, and hopefully that's going to happen so I can
get into the tournament.
Then if whoever Hewitt or Roddick or Nadal beat, seriously it doesn't
affect me. I got to beat the guys that come around to play against me.
He's definitely one the guys that can win it. He's won it before. I
think he's the last guy to win it since me. Maybe Safin or Agassi,
Sampras, Roddick. Yeah, so there's not many guys playing the US Open
that have won the US Open before.
And honestly, that's a Grand Slam that takes a lot experience in my
point of view to win there. Humidity, the heat, New York, the city, the
stadium, people, night session, day session. It's a rough Grand Slam
and everybody's playing their best.
To me it always seems like if you can win the US Open you can win
anything. For me that worked well, and I'm happy I was able to do that.
Q. Did you feel like he's back to somewhere close to his best, or has he always been around?
ROGER FEDERER: It's been a good two weeks for him now. He was close to
beating Djokovic in Wimbledon. If he would have come through there who
knows what would have happened. He would've maybe beaten Baghdatis
after that and been on a great run, But he lost that.
I think he's playing well. I think he can win big tournaments. He knows
that. He knows he can upset the best. That's what it's about for him.
It's just about playing consistently throughout an entire year and
giving your self the most possible chances. That's what he's been able
to do this last couple weeks. Unfortunately he ran into me.
Q. What were your feelings in the third set after you got the a
break back and you had a couple more chances and I think two games on
his serve? ROGER FEDERER: Felt good. But I was still worried
because I missed the chances. Yeah, I mean, it happens. It was a
hard-fought battle. I had to stay calm because I thought that second
serve at one stage in the second set was out too, and it was. I saw the
mark after.
That is rough. And I'm sure I would have broken him at 15-40. To go
through these rough patches I really have to stay positive after a few
rough stages of match today.
Q. Where does this rank on the Federer/Hewitt top 20 since you've played twenty times?
ROGER FEDERER: It's probably in the top 20. (Laughter) I don't know. I
don't know what the rankings are. My favorite one is probably the US
Open after all.
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