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Friday, June 1, 2007
Roland Garros Third Round
By Roland Garros Official Site
R. FEDERER/P. Starace 6-2, 6-3, 6-0
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
Q. If you had to choose between if you have to choose between to win here or England, what do you say? ROGER FEDERER: No answer. I answered it so many times. It's impossible to answer. Q. One more, please. For Uruguay? ROGER FEDERER: Uruguay, okay. Oh, god. You're killing me.
This means a lot; Wimbledon, as well. No, I mean, it's very emotional.
Wimbledon for me, you know, from junior times, then the Sampras wins,
the four wins in a row. If I would have only played that tournament in
my entire life, you know, I would have been a good player. Now
that I haven't won the French Open, that's a huge goal, as well. It
would boost my career in an incredible way. Yeah. It's not my last
French Open, hopefully I'm going to give my self many more chances to
win here. Q. Can you talk a little bit about
your progression so far? Do you feel you're improving match after
match? Compared to other Grand Slams, do you feel you've started this
tournament on a rather high note? ROGER FEDERER: Well, I
mean, it's hard to judge if I'm getting better. You know, conditions
were really tough. The first match was split in two, you know, over two
days. The second match was late in the day in very difficult
conditions. And today, finally I played during a normal time an entire
match in a row again. So you can't compare how you're playing and
everything. But I'm just happy that things are going well. I
haven't lost a set. I'm feeling well, anyway. Because, you know, it's
difficult for everybody here at the moment with the conditions
changing, the gusty winds and the cool conditions. So I'm happy to have, you know, put myself in the position of the fourth round already.
Q. Could you talk to us about Youzhny a little bit. I know you've
played him a number of times. Assess his game and what you expect from
him. ROGER FEDERER: Well, he had kind of a breakthrough
late last year, you know, at the US Open when he beat Rafa, and played
the semis, and played a very close match against Roddick. He had a
strong showing again now in the indoors, you know. He won Rotterdam,
played the finals against me in Dubai after that. He's been
playing many tournaments, you know. I think he's a fantastic player.
He's always been very famous for playing exceptionally well in
practice, you know, but for some reason could really tie it together in
a match situation. Now he's been able to do that, and he's been doing
it on a regular basis. So that puts him in contention. He usually also
plays better against the better players. So I have to
definitely be careful, even though I've never lost against him. I have
a lot of respect for his game, because he's a great player, and I like
his game. Q. Seem to be playing very
naturally today. As if it came quite easily to you. That may be a
stupid thing to say, but you just looked very comfortable on court, and
seemed to be playing the game you wanted to play. ROGER
FEDERER: No, it is true, I definitely felt very good from the start,
you know. I felt like it's going to be hard for him to really get
service winners out of that serve he had, even though he has a high
first serve percentage usually. I just had the feeling from the
baseline I was going to be the better man, you know. And on clay, that
is obviously a huge advantage to have if you're mentally in good shape.
You know, I was moving well, I think, for early on in a Grand Slam. I
think I'm playing really well. Also my serve is really working well, I
feel, when it has to. And so I agree with you. I think it came
very naturally today, especially towards the end when I really first
accelerated and he was getting disappointed. I didn't make any mistakes
and I came through in straight sets. Q. During a Grand Slam, do you spend more time playing tennis or doing interviews? ROGER FEDERER: So far, tennis still, you know, but as the matches progress, you know...
But usually it is tennis after all. I've definitely cut down on
interviews over the years on off days, you know, because I used to do
many more off-court activities, you know; trying to do all kinds of
things and making everybody happy. And now it's about, you know, really
trying to rest yourself and not get tired because of doing too much
media, you know. I want to enjoy coming to the press room, you
know, so I think less is more now in my, you know, moment of my career.
So I can concentrate even more on my private life and the tennis court.
The press is just always there. They will never go away. THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please. Q. After a slight hiccup in the second set, you're in control every match?
ROGER FEDERER: It was a good match. I mean, in the first set and the
third set, I had dominated. And the second set was very key to the
match, especially for him, if he would have a chance to win. So I think
in the onset of the second set, he had a slight chance. He saved some
breakpoints, but I would say that he played better in the second set.
He was able to use his forehand and to sustain the forehand. Of course
he didn't convert this to breakpoints, and then I was able to be in
control in the second set. So it was good. Q. So the clay, is it fast because of the weather being dryer? What do you think in relation to Monte Carlo?
ROGER FEDERER: The balls are different, so it changes a lot. I would
say that the clay is in very good condition, and they cover the court
when it rains. You're under the impression that clay hasn't changed,
and I would say that this clay is quite good. I would say that clay was
not quite quick today, not too fast. When the sun shines for a few
hours, I would say that the ball bounces a lot. But so far, it hasn't
yet occurred. Q. I've read an article of Pat
Cash in an English newspaper. Your serve has changed, basically, that
you produced a kind of loop from the back. What about your move in the
serve, has it changed? ROGER FEDERER: No, I don't think
that my move has changed, I mean, or I've worked on that, or maybe I've
changed something slightly. No, I would say that my service game is
quite good. I'm quite relaxed and basically can prevent some injuries.
So I changed my serve at the start of my career, between the junior
category and the senior category, but the loop at the serve is the
same. From time to time, I can toss up the ball a little bit higher or
a little bit lower, but it's a matter of feeling. As far as I know, I would say that my serve hasn't changed, and the loop hasn't changed. Q. Good afternoon. Do you follow the tournament and the potential players, and the women's tournament?
ROGER FEDERER: Of course. I want to have a look at the results at the
end of the day. I just want to be informed of the highlights of the
day, to know what has happened during the day. So the other day there
were too many matches, and it was very difficult to keep pace with all
of these results. It's very good when you have so many matches,
especially best-of-five-set matches. Of course I follow the results of
the ladies. Q. Any favorite for the women? ROGER FEDERER: Kuznetsova. I like her game; she plays well.
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