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November 18, 2007
Masters Cup Shanghai Final
By ASAP Sports
R. FEDERER/D. Ferrer 6-2, 6-3, 6-2
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Comparing your previous three titles from the Masters Cup, how emotional is this fourth title for you?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, I didn't cry or anything on the court
today. But it was a nice victory, you know, especially proving it, you
know, to myself and the world, you know, that I can do it over and over
again.
You know, it's been a great season for me. And finishing off, you know,
the best players in the world, you know, also Nadal and all these guys,
you know, in the Masters Cup. It's always a great experience for me.
I think it only really is going to start coming down on me like next week, and then especially during holidays.
Q. Everyone seems to be worried about your tennis crisis. Seven
games you lost in the final last year. Seven games you lose this time
in the final. How do you react to all this? Three slams won this year,
another one lost in a final. It's a disaster.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, some might think, you know. I don't think so (smiling).
I think it's a fantastic year. I'm really happy, especially the way the
year has been going. It's been in some ways a breakthrough year for me.
Especially the way I played in the beginning of the year, not losing a
set during the Australian Open, coming here, beating everybody in
straight sets after losing against González when people thought, you
know, okay, Federer is maybe not playing so well.
Beating Nadal for the first time on clay. I've beaten all my closest
rivals, Nadal and Djokovic, more time than they've beaten me. It's been
one of those years which I'm really, really happy about.
Maybe I didn't win 10 titles, but it's not necessary to stay No. 1 in
the world all the time. If I keep this level of play up, I mean, I'm in
a great position for next year as well.
Q. Not to be nosy, but what do you do with these 53 titles you have? Do you have a room someplace or shelves?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I have actually now a trophy room since a short
time. I'm happy about it, you know, putting all the Grand Slam titles
together, all the Masters series together, like the awards I've
received, you know. Because people might think I don't care about, you
know, awards and titles more. It's so not true. It's something that's a
great recognition for me.
Having one room basically, you know, to myself with the trophies, it's
a great feeling walking in there. It's actually my office. It's not
like I'm there all the time. I wander around sometimes and all of a
sudden I find myself in the room staring at the trophies and going
through them. It's a good feeling.
Q. This was a fantastic week for David. Do you think it might be a
boost for his next season, and that you will see him in the finals of
slams and Masters Series, or was it a once in a lifetime opportunity?
ROGER FEDERER: No, I disagree, to be honest. I think this will
definitely give David a lift and a boost, you know, for next year.
He'll definitely start believing he can beat the best now, whereas I
think he's maybe been very much down on himself always.
He thought, I'm the worst guy in the top hundred. I'm the worst guy in
the top 10. I think he is going to start thinking differently,
especially having beaten guys like Nadal, Roddick, Gasquet, Djokovic.
You have to believe you can go up there and make it to the finals of
Grand Slams.
I think that's what he's starting to believe in now. He's going to be
tough on clay, but also tougher on hard courts and quicker courts. He's
shown it this year in Tokyo and here again indoors. I'm looking forward
to his challenge as well.
Q. Is there a sense now that you've sort of begun to transcend the
sport, become bigger maybe than tennis itself, like maybe Tiger Woods
in golf, Michael Jordan in basketball, even David Beckham in a
different sort of way? Does it become more difficult to keep your focus
solely on the tennis? ROGER FEDERER: Well, maybe at times,
you know. I've gotten many requests, you know, for obviously different
tournaments. You know, I could play a lot of tournaments. Everybody
wants me to have them there, but I have to be very selective of what
tournaments I play. Of course, you know, I could meet so many different
people, as well.
It's very interesting to meet all different kinds, going to awards, red
carpet stuff. I'm trying to cut it down as much as I can, because in
the end my big focus is tennis, you know.
But it's nice, you know, being at the top for so long. It goes in
phases. Sometimes you're more wanted. Sometimes it relaxes a little
bit. Then you're happy as well, you know, to be honest.
You know, I really hope I can give tennis a lift, too, you know,
because especially this year has been maybe a bit of a struggle at
times. But I think the level of play this entire week has been
excellent from all the players. I think that's going to stand out, and
not the problems we've had this year.
You know, hopefully more kids will start playing tennis in my home
country, but also around the world, you know, because I think it's a
great sport. It's a clean sport, and I hope that in the future it's
going to stay this way.
Q. In China one of the oldest customs is the circus. I think next
year, 2008, with the Olympic Games, more difficult for you. You want
also the Olympic gold, or how do you see it? ROGER FEDERER:
Sure, I mean, I'll try my best. It's not going to be easy. Comes around
every four years, you know, and you tend to get a bit nervous, you
know, when that comes around. It depends on the draw. It depends on the
player you play, the day form and everything, so it's a tough thing.
But I'm probably going to go in as one of the big favorites, you know.
I really expect myself to do well. It's one of my goals of the season.
It's going to be a rough trip, you know, coming from French Open to
Wimbledon, over to North America and come back, but I'm ready for it.
That's what the tennis players are used to, you know. I think I'd
rather play enough and good and coming into maybe Beijing with a lot of
matches than not enough and not feeling so good about my chances.
So it's going to be interesting to see also how the surface is played,
slow or fast. It's going to depend once we arrive in Beijing.
Q. Seems pretty certain from here on out you're going to be
increasingly playing against history, compared to the greats of the
past. You talked about players whose games you liked a lot as you were
coming up. You mentioned Rios, Edberg, Becker. If you think of all the
greats of the past in terms of who had the greatest game, regardless of
the number of Grand Slams they won, what sort of appraisal do you make?
ROGER FEDERER: Look, I mean, I don't know Laver and the
Rosewall era enough to really comment on theirs. I know they were very
good at the net, all-around game. It's probably one of them, you know.
I still liked the way Bjorn Borg played. Everybody thought he was, you
know, far behind the baseline. He would only hit baseline shots. But he
would actually serve and volley much more than you think.
John McEnroe obviously is one of the great talents. Agassi, the way he
was a ball striker off the baseline, the way he, you know, took the
ball early and attacked on both wings. It was unbelievable.
But then again it all comes back to Sampras, to be honest. When he was
on, he was on, and he was unbeatable. For this reason, he is, you know,
in my point of view, very, very much up there.
You know, it's hard to compare different eras. But when he was on, he
was absolutely one of the best. This is why I'm so excited to play
against him actually next week. It's a real thrill for me. It's a dream
come true in some ways, playing him, not just on Centre Court, not in
his backyard back in L.A., but also now in front of crowds, in front of
everybody. I think it's going to be a lot of fun for both of us.
Q. You always seem extremely good when you're playing finals in the
Masters Cup, apart from the 2005 loss to Nalbandian. Why is it? Because
you're simply too good in the final? ROGER FEDERER: Well, I
mean, look, I don't know. I come into a finals obviously with a lot of
confidence, you know. Once you make it there you always feel good about
your chances. And I've always had a great record in finals, you know,
in Grand Slam finals. I've won 12 and lost two maybe. I've really got
great records in finals, you know.
I struggled a little bit on clay obviously in finals against Nadal,
which obviously upset my record a little bit. But at the same times,
indoors and on my home surfaces, such to speak, hard court and grass, I
have an unbelievable record. I'm very happy once I get there. Usually I
can play much more relaxed and free.
At the same time, I came into these matches being most of the times the
favorite, against Ferrer, against Blake, maybe not so much against
Agassi back then. But still, you know, I took advantage of my chances
when I usually get them.
In the most important matches I'm the toughest. That's been a big strength of mine in the past.
Q. Last month in Paris and Madrid you lost to Nalbandian twice.
This time you lost to González. Would you say the three losses will
motivate you to do even better? ROGER FEDERER: No, not
really. You know, I knew it was going to be a tough three weeks. I
didn't expect myself to win all three weeks. It's just too tough.
But honestly, you know, I've won -- in some ways my favorite one. It
was my hometown tournament where I used to be a ball boy. You can
imagine it was very, very emotional. Some might think, Okay, who cares
about this tournament. But I do really care a lot about it.
You know, celebrating with all my friends and family over there. When I
look at the ball-boys, I see myself. It was a big thrill. I finished my
No. 1 position over there. I knew I had it locked and loaded after that
tournament.
Nalbandian played very well in Madrid and in Paris. You know, the loss
here against González came maybe as a bit of a surprise, but the
important thing was how I reacted to it, you know, not get too down on
myself, not ask myself too many questions.
I was happy the way I played after. It's been an absolute roll. I
defeated every player that came along in straight sets quite
comfortably, so it's been a great end to the year. I'm very happy with
my season, obviously.
Q. You lose your first match of the tournament, then win four in a
row. Yesterday you're down 15-30 to Nadal, go on a big streak. Today
you're down 30-40, go on a big streak. Is there something about
adversity that brings out the best in your game? ROGER
FEDERER: Well, I mean, I've always had a tendency to all of a sudden,
you know, go in streaks. Either it's points or games. In the US Open
against López I won something like over 30 points in a row my own
serve. That's an incredible streak sometimes.
I surprise myself at times obviously. But to do it in the most
important matches, like against Nadal, against Ferrer, in Grand Slams,
you know, where it counts the most, you know, for me it's a great,
great feeling, you know, to get.
Once you get on a roll it's so hard for the opponent to come back into
it. I don't allow them. I can mix it up and change it up. This is my
big strength. I hope I can keep that going for many more years to come,
obviously.
Q. You're going to play an exhibition with Pete Sampras next week.
Can you talk about that. Do you expect to play Pete Sampras as
professionals on the tour or something like that? ROGER
FEDERER: Look, I mean, it's going to be interesting to see how I'm
handling his game, you know. I haven't seen the guy play, so that's his
big strength of his. You know, he has seen me so many times.
I haven't seen him play now. We forget sometimes how long he's been
retired. I think it's been five years now. And he still looks very
healthy and fit, you know.
I hope I can play well against him. It's going to be difficult because
I practiced with him in L.A. this year. He seemed to play very, very
well. He's still got the lethal forehand, the great slice and the great
serve, you know, the fantastic movement and volleys.
Yeah, we'll see what happens. Anyway, I'm really excited. I'm happy I
played well this week, so hopefully I can carry that over to next week
and beat him not just once by three times (smiling).
Q. Tossing aside the rankings, but how they've played against you,
who do you think is the best player you've played so far in your
career, and why? ROGER FEDERER: In my career? Well, I've got
to go with Rafa, Agassi and Sampras. Really, I mean, Sampras obviously
I only played once. But Agassi really got the best out of me every
single time I played him. I think I played him at his peak. Some might
disagree. But I really think I had enough matches with him where I saw
his best.
Rafa, obviously I've seen him at his best many times, you know, on clay
and other surfaces. For me, you know, playing against these three was
very special always.
I would almost include Lleyton Hewitt in that, where I've had some great battles with him over the years, as well.
Q. Today the last point, it was you passing Ferrer in the net. You
also demonstrated it's possible to go to the net. Your game is going
all around better and better. Do you think you can improve?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, you know, I practiced hard to get this level. This
is really what it comes down to for me. I'm professional. I believe in
my chances. I believe in my way of handling my career is the right one.
And, of course, you know, when it all comes together in a finals like
today against Ferrer, it's fantastic. I still would like to play a
little bit more offensive, you know, come to the net a little bit.
Obviously this week, every time I came to the net, I felt like I was in
a good position, you know, whereas sometimes you come to the net you
think like, Oh, God, I hope I don't have to play a volley. So this week
was very different. And I'm actually very happy I could turn it around,
because I was playing very passive Madrid, Basel and Paris.
So I was able to turn that around. I always knew I had great defensive
skills, you know, and I showed that again this week with the great
offensive skill. And when both work, it's hard to beat me basically
(smiling).
Q. If you were a coach, you have to say to a player, You're going
to play Roger Federer. You have to do this, that and that. What would
you say? ROGER FEDERER: Don't even try, pal (smiling). No,
it's going to be really, really difficult, you know. You're probably
not going to win, but you can always try.
I'm just kidding.
I don't know. I'm not a coach - just yet. I'm still a player, so I won't answer.
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