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Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Kooyong Quarterfinal
By AAMI Classic Official Site
R. FEDERER/R. Stepanek 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5)
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
Q. Good to kick it off with a win this year, compared to last year?
A. Look, I mean, last year was totally different, I came from
winning Doha. So this year's different, you know, I'm coming
from no matches yet, so obviously I'm trying to find my way into
the new year and everything. So, look, I think, win or lose, you
know, it wouldn't have changed very much. I was so close to
losing. But it still feels always better to come off as a winner
and kind of turn it around when I had to.
I believed I could do it. I should have done it in the
second set already. But it was a tough and close match, you
know. I thought it was tough conditions, windy, hot and
everything. So I think that's what really evened out this match
today.
Q. Is the heat a factor when you come to play in Melbourne?
A. Well, absolutely, yes. I mean, I've been practising in Dubai,
it's been kind of mild over there, and then you come here, it's
30, 35 degrees, it's definitely something you have to get used
to. In summer time, after Wimbledon, I usually do two weeks in
the heat in Dubai as well, when then it's 45 degrees -- me as a
Swiss, where we don't get very hot weather, it's just important
for me to get used to that sort of heat. It's really helped me a
lot, I handle the heat much better now. I usually struggle in
the humidity, not so much the dry heat like here, but it's
really -- the court gets really hot. But it's tough conditions,
for everybody is the same.
Q. Are you worried about the smoke from the fires? I'm sure you
would have noticed the smoke this morning.
A. Yes, but what do you mean?
Q. Does it bother you at all?
A. I'm not happy to see it because it's a bad sign for Australia,
forests getting burned and everything. I hope it stops. But for
us it doesn't have any effect really, as players. But it would
just be nice if it would be solved, I guess.
Q. After this first tough match, how do you rate your form, five
days out from the start?
A. I think, you know, playing such a long match gives me a lot of
information for what I could do better, what's already in place.
You know, concentration is the biggest factor. I had an
exhibition at the beginning of the year. It's kind of tough to
get into things entirely. I guess everything, you know, match by
match it's going to get better -- things I was happy with, things
I wasn't happy with. But I knew that from the start, so I just
tried to keep it together, not getting frustrated. So in the end
it was actually an okay match, so I was pretty happy.
Q. What are the little things that take a while to come back when
you haven't played matches for a while? What are the small
things in your game that take a while to come back to you when
you've had a small break?
A. Usually it's the serve and the return, because you practise a lot
and you do a lot of drills, more -- it's hard work for the body,
a lot of forehands, backhands and volleys and everything, so that
you don't forget the return of serve, but it's just, if you don't
play points all the time, in practice, you're there to practise
other things as well, that hand-eye coordination gets a little
bit lost in the beginning. That's why it's good, I've been
playing in practice as well a lot of points now, so once the
tournament comes around, I'll be fine with reading the serves
again, making a lot of returns, being consistent with the serve.
Today I served far too many double faults, and that's got
something to do with not having served enough maybe, and windy,
and maybe not concentrating the way I should have. It's usually
the little things, they can make a huge difference if you're
going to be broken or not, and the whole momentum can shift with
that.
Q. (inaudible) re change in the racquet.
A. They changed the graphics, obviously, inside of the racquet a
little bit. They came out with nanotechnology two years ago,
this year carbon black, gives a little bit more control, they
say. I feel like it's feeling well. Yes, I'm happy with the
racquet so far, I've been playing with it already in December.
Q. Roger, you've had some great battles with Nadal over the last
12 months. He's under a bit of an injury cloud. Do you take
notice of that?
A. Obviously I hear everybody talking about it, but I doubt that
he's going to pull out here. From what I've heard, he's just
being cautious, which is the right thing to do just before a
Slam. He's come a long way, from Chennai and everything. So
it's a tough thing to do, to sign up to two tournaments before a
slam. I guess it gives him some extra days, and I see him
playing very well here, actually.
Q. Given the battles you've had with him in the past, going forward,
do you think he has the potential to be a real long-term top 10
player?
A. Who is, Nadal?
Q. Yes.
A. Yes, absolutely. I think he's improving on fast courts. For
those who still haven't understood yet that he's still a good
hardcourt player, or even grass, they should start to wake up.
He's really improved a lot. I think he's a big favourite going
into many events playing well, it's just that he's always come up
against a guy who's just really playing well at the moment, since
the French Open. I see him, you know, being very tough. I mean,
people are saying: is his body going to hold up and everything?
For the moment, I definitely think it will, you know.
Yeah, he's getting experienced, you know, he's going to be
improving more and more, so he's not going to be easy to beat, so
it's going to be tough.
Q. Deciding not to play Doha, does that make you more vulnerable
just in those very early rounds of the Australian Open?
A. Look, I'm most probably playing again on Rod Laver Arena. I play
so well on that court, and with my experience and the way
I finished the season and the way I'm coming into this, rested
and everything, I don't see really why I should be vulnerable
more than last year. I think it's going to be really tough for
people to beat me here. I'm going to make it as hard as
possible. Honestly, I don't think Doha plays any role this year.
Q. It must have served its purpose for you because you played it
previously and played there well, at Doha?
A. Yes, but I never played that many matches the season before that.
You have to look at the big picture. I needed a break, I needed
a rest. I wasn't really in the mood to play a tournament the
first week of the year so early. I also wanted to have a life,
you know, have Christmas and new years and take it easy a little
bit, practise, have enough time off and come here rested and not
exhausted already and tired to start the new season.
For me, it was most important to come to Melbourne in the
mood to win the Australian Open, not come here and feel like it's
a pain. So that's what I've done the right decision.
Q. And the world No. 1, can you have a life, as world No. 1?
A. Absolutely.
Q. With the pressures of injuries and family life and so on, do you
feel personally that the season should be shorter than what it
is, the tennis season?
A. Honestly, I think -- I don't want to start anything here -- but
it would be nice if the Australian Open would be a bit later,
because if that would happen we would have a bit more time in the
off season. But because the first Grand Slam is just around the
corner, basically that's why we don't have any rest. If it would
be in March, people could take a rest all January and February as
well. So that just makes it, I think, complicated for us
players. I don't think that's ever going to change. Then
obviously if the Australian Open can change and then all of a
sudden you want to cut it off in the end, which I don't agree
with either. You are going to have to clean up the entire
schedule to make everybody happy, and then people will still be
not happy, so it will never really work out.
Q. Have the Players Association pushed for that or are they still
pushing for a shorter season?
A. They are pushing maybe for a shorter season at the end of the
year. But, to me, to solve it would be to move this tournament
further back, and then you have more room for a break and
everything, play more exhibitions if you want and stuff. If you
want to keep yourself busy in the off season, you can always do
that.
Look, I'm not complaining, I'm playing all the four Slams,
I usually play as many tournaments as I can. So I like it when
the season is kind of long and it gives me the choice to choose.
But that seems to change as well, with the Masters Series coming
along, wanting me to play all of them and getting punished when
you don't play. So it's going to be interesting to see how it's
going to go.
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