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Friday, June 8, 2007
Roland Garros Semifinal
By Roland Garros Official Site
R. FEDERER/N. Davydenko 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (9-7)
An interview with: ROGER FEDERER
Q. Davydenko seemed to not produce and
came up with something like three breaks obtained on like 17
opportunities. Is it fair to say that you didn't have your best match
today or Nikolay Davydenko was a good opposition, even though he didn't
produce in key moments? ROGER FEDERER: No, I mean, I think
I'm, first of all, of course very happy, you know, I've won the match.
The way, too. You know, I played excellent when I had to. And it was a
very tough match. So it was a great battle, like expected, really.
I didn't have a great amount of first serve percentage, but I had them
when I needed them. And usually they came over breakpoints, during the
tiebreakers. So in the key moments it was there, and that was the most
important. But it was very physical, you know. It was three
hours for three sets, and that's always a long time. So I felt good out
on the court. And, yeah, I'm so happy to be back in the finals of
course. Q. You think this year you get more chances than last year, winning Roland Garros here?
ROGER FEDERER: I don't know. First, I have to see who wins, you know.
That's going to matter a little bit of how I'm going to play. But,
never know if the chances are higher or lower, you know. But I've put
myself again in a great position, you know. I've played well all two
weeks, basically, and there's just one more match to go. Last
year I came out of the blocks very, very strong with a great first set,
but after that, I couldn't handle Nadal. So I hope this year's going to
be different. Q. Is it tough not to crack
today, but you seemed to do it when you had to, and you seemed to be
able to go up a gear and find your best game when you really needed to.
In each set that happened. Is that something that consciously you can
do and get yourself and make yourself do? ROGER FEDERER:
Oh, no, not really. I mean, there's days you can do it. Days you can't.
You know, and I could have lost each set, basically, you know. So I
was, of course, very happy to have come through. But still,
you know, he's not the greatest server, you know, we have in the game.
So you always have to expect yourself to come back in key moments.
Because if you get the rally going, and, you know, he misses a couple
and you play well, all of a sudden, you break him very quickly. So,
that's what happens with baseliners like him, you know. And you just
have to stay with him. The first set was key, you know, I
thought, instead of being down double break, I came back and broke him,
you know. That was just such a big moment that I was very happy. And
that was basically the way it was going to be, too, in the second and
third set. Q. The first few games, I mean,
have you ever seen him play quite that well? And in the end, how much
do you think the 8 and 0 helped you out? Does it play on his mind at
all? ROGER FEDERER: I don't think it matters much in a
moment like this, you know. Maybe gives me a bit of an edge in the key
moments, you might think. But, I mean, we go to work so hard that it
doesn't come into consideration for some reason, you know. Now
that -- the start was unbelievable from his side, absolutely. I mean,
he hit clean winners over and over again. You know, I tried to play
aggressive, but I couldn't. The serve wasn't helping me out either. And
he was so solid, that I was lucky to stay in the first set, that was
obvious. Q. You just mentioned that there
are some days when you can step it up and other days when you can't go
to that Plan B. Could you talk about that. Why? Is it the opposition?
Is it within you? Why can you sort of do it sometimes and other times
it's not there? ROGER FEDERER: Well, because sometimes you
can -- you know, you feel good and you can turn around matches by
playing well. And sometimes you have to hope that the opponent gives it
to you and every little bit helps you out, you know, by playing bad at
the right time. But you have to always stay with your opponent, you
know. So if he does, you know, mess it up, then you're right there to
take it. And that's what usually the best guys do, because we don't
have a great day every day either. So we have to always just make sure
we stay with the guys, and hopefully in the important moments, we take
the right decisions. And with the experience, I think that usually does pay off, but not always. Q. Was there a player or two in your long career who was particularly tough to go to Plan B, who cut you off, so to speak?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, the big servers are the worst, you know,
of course. That's why you have to be so careful in your own service
games - no double faults, no bad starts to your own service games.
Because if you get behind, you're behind, you know. And against the big
servers, you just tend to -- they play it on their terms and that's the
worst thing to be in. Q. Where does eight straight finals rank in terms of your career accomplishments?
ROGER FEDERER: I guess, very high. It's hard to put it against other
records, of course, you know, because this is over a long time. This
shows consistency. And it always used to be the problem of my young
career, you know, back in the day, consistency. And now, I'm, you know,
the most consistent player, you know, and it's great to be. And it's a
great feeling being in all these big matches over and over again. And I
love it. So this is big. No doubt. Q. In the context of your career, what would it mean to win this title?
ROGER FEDERER: It would mean a lot (laughing). There's not much more I
can say, really. I mean, I've put myself in the position, now I just
have one match to go. So hopefully I can do it this year.
Q. You've sort of low-keyed it a little bit, but after losing here last
year, how much have you thought about it, and how much have you worked
at to getting to where you are right now? ROGER FEDERER:
Well, you do forget about it right away, if you win Wimbledon the
following months, you know. So that kind of overshadows the French Open
by a mile. So after that, you don't even think about the French Open
until the end of the year, and then it comes back after the Australian
Open. And basically you think about the French Open from the Australian
Open on. And that's every year the same thing. So it doesn't change,
really. Q. Does it matter to you who you play in the final? Would you prefer to face Nadal on Sunday?
ROGER FEDERER: I mean, I probably prefer Djokovic, to be honest. Never
lost against the guy, and the guy has never played a Grand Slam final.
So that would be stupid to say the other guy (smiling).
Q. How much of a relief is it for you to make it to the final, whether
you play Nadal or not, just taking the first step to possibly winning?
ROGER FEDERER: Relief came after the quarters. Kind of felt good being
in the semis. Semis is always a good position to be in. You've got two
more matches, you know. This won't now physically be a problem.
Mentally, I'm fine. You know where you're at. So being in the
finals of the semis is not a big deal to me. It's just making it to the
semis, first of all. Of course, now that I'm in the final, it's great.
I know I'm in great shape, got a day off tomorrow, so I can prepare
perfectly for the upcoming match. And we'll see who it is, you know. But I've got a game plan ready for both of them, which is important. Q. Even after all your accomplishments, do you still get nervous? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, occasionally. Not so much anymore, but a little bit. Q. Are you happy with the speed and the bounce of the court here?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it's pretty good. I mean, the new balls really
bounce and are quick. You know, so if you serve well, it does pay off.
But, of course, also depends on the weather. It hasn't been the
quickest two weeks, you know, we've seen here in Paris. But the balls
make up for it, you know. They -- they're quite bouncy. So if you hit
hard and with a lot of top spin, they jump a lot, which good. Q. Same as it was last year? ROGER FEDERER: It seems a bit different, in my opinion. So hopefully, that's a good thing. We'll see. THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.
Q. Can you tell us a few words about this beginning of match. He played
incredible tennis. Had he ever played that well against you? And how do
you feel, faced with such a beautiful game? ROGER FEDERER:
Well, I know he can play that well. So when it happened, it's not
really a surprise, you know, when you get to his forehand and you have
to run across the court, right and left. But you don't want to be
overimpressed because then you're bound to make mistakes. So, you try
and remain focused. And this is why it was very important for
me at 4-Love, at 4-2, Love-40, I knew that if I started playing well, I
could break him. Because at that stage, he had not made any mistakes.
He had some opportunities. He didn't manage to catch them. But it was a
key moment in the match. And then, when I came back at 4-All
or 5-All, was it, then I relaxed a bit. And it was easier for me to
play and slightly more complex for him. Q.
With our colleagues we talked during the match because we had a feeling
that sometimes you let him take the initiative and then you started
playing again, that you sort of had fun like this. Was that the case?
Because we had the feeling that you could have managed the game, but
sometimes you were being too nice, and you just loosen up the game a
bit? ROGER FEDERER: No. Believe me, you can't be nice in a
semifinal in a Grand Slam tournament. You can't take a risk like this.
At this level, you can't be nice anymore, and you can't just offer
points to your opponent. You have to fight on each point. And Nikolay
played very well, all along the match, and more particularly at the
beginning. Had my serve been slightly better today, it would have been
even better. So I need to work on my serve, but it was a beautiful
match, highly physical, and I had great pleasure. Q. Do you follow the ladies tournament and Justin Henin, and what do you think about her?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I do. I know Ivanovic even better than Henin,
because she's based in Switzerland. Her manager's from Basel, so we've
known each other for quite a while. As for Henin, I like the
way she plays with her one-handed forehand, and it's wonderful she can
do it on the ladies tour. So I'll watch the final tomorrow.
Q. Have you ever been afraid during this match, because at 5-4, he was
serving for the set. At 5-3 he had two set points and a break? So you
knew him. Did you understand he would not be mentally ready?
ROGER FEDERER: No, I wasn't nervous. When I came back in the first set,
then I won the first set, so I was quite relaxed. He missed a few
opportunities in the second set, and I felt the worst case scenario
would be one set all. But I was -- at the end of the second set, I knew
that while if we had to go further, it would be two sets to one, and I
was still in a very comfortable position. So the pressure was on him.
And I was in a rather favorable position. Q.
Can we say that this victory is a bit of a mystery? Is a benefit? A
miracle if it was won three sets to zero, that would have been well
deserved? ROGER FEDERER: Well, three sets to zero, no, not
really. Not well deserved for me. For me, winning three sets to zero,
that's a bit tough on him, because he certainly deserved to win one set. Q. Did you feel slightly tired at the beginning of the third set, as you had run quite a lot during the first two?
ROGER FEDERER: No, no, not really. I think it was a mental level. It
was mentally I felt tired, not physically. He played very well. I was
under pressure 100% of the time. So it was difficult for me to keep
control, and to be in a position to control the game. And I feared he
would break me once more. But I also knew that I would be able
to break him back, if he was to break me, so it was good for me to be
very close to him during the whole second set.
Q. If you're to play Rafael on Sunday, who would be the favorite of a
final against Rafael? Would it be you or would it be him?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I thinks that's quite open. I mean, he has already
won the title twice, so I'd say he -- he is a favorite. And then he's
also won 80 matches in a row, and now he is No. 1 on clay this year, so
far. But, anything can happen in just one match. And I had
beautiful results in Grand Slam tournaments, so we're quite -- we're
almost even now. And if I'm to play him, it's going to be a wonderful,
wonderful match, a very special match. Q. If
you win on Sunday, you'll be winning your fourth Grand Slam tournament
in a row. Two days before the final, is it something that you think
about? ROGER FEDERER: No, honestly, I don't want to think
about it too much, you know, having the four titles, winning the four
titles in a row, no. I want to be focused on this very specific match.
I've never achieved such a thing, so I don't know how I'll feel. But I
want to do my best, keep focused on this match, and win Roland Garros.
And that would open the door to the Grand Slam in one year, the four
titles in one year. But, you know, there's still one match before that. Q. If you compare to 2006, would you see similarities or differences between last year and this year?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, maybe. If I look back at my semifinal against
Nalbandian last year, we played well, and all of a sudden, he had this
injury. If I remember well, I don't think I lost any sets until the
semifinals. I think it was the same thing here, except that I lost one
set against Robredo. I reached the final with a great level of
confidence, likewise this year. The only difference is that I
know now that I have defeated Rafa on clay in Hamburg, so maybe that
will help me get on the right tracks. And I feel -- well, we both have
more experience, and that can help.
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