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May 18, 2008
Hamburg AMS Final
By Hamburg Masters Official Site
Press Conference with ROGER FEDERER
Federer - Nadal 5:7, 7:6 (3), 3:6
Q: Roger, wonderful match. It could have gone either way. Is
there a little thing you could have done to change the
outcome?
FEDERER: I could have maybe served a little bit better. When I
served for the set, the second time where he broke me at 5:1, but
I thought, all in all it was allright. It wasn't my best
performance, if you get broken so many times there is always
something you are a little bit unhappy about. But I think I am
finding the right type of play from the baseline. It's up to me
to serve maybe a bit better at important stages. And attack maybe
a bit more solidly. But it was a fun match playing.
Q: Why do you think there were so much momentum swings. He had
seven games in a row and then I think you four games in a
row.
FEDERER: I know. We had a similar thing in Monaco. I entered
this match thinking it won't be anything like it, because we'll
hold serve. It would be much harder to break serve. But then the
same thing happened again. It's the way it is, we put a lot of
balls into play, and it seems hard to stop both of us.
Q: Considering Roland Garros, are you at the level you want to
be?
FEDERER: Yes, I wish I could have won today, then I would have
an even better feeling. But I think there is not much of a
change. The way the match went today I can also say I feel well,
the 3 hours wasn't a problem whatsoever. From a physical
standpoint that is a good thing for me. Maybe Rafael struggles a
little bit more, because of the stress level of the last few
weeks. I just take two days off and I will be in Paris
practicing. It's going to be fun next week and then I will
hopefully be ready for the tournament.
Q: You attacked in lots of different ways. Do you feel the
variety of what you use is increasing?
FEDERER: Yes, I think today particularly. I tried to be
aggressive from the backhand side. Before he started to open up
much more from the forehand to my forehand. He could do that very
much at the beginning. You always have to keep adapting to Rafa.
I tried to do that as good as I could. The serve would have
helped for sure.
Q: What was the problem with the serve?
FEDERER: Not much. You hope they go. I have to go for big
serves. But he is a good return player.
Q: --
FEDERER: First, the problem is to play him on clay. He will
break one's serve more than other players. But I don't go into my
service games with the feeling that I'm going to be broken. He
makes it difficult because he practically doesn't do any return
mistakes. He plays with a lot of spin. Since I am the one, who
plays aggressive, I usually have the risk on my side. When a game
starts badly, it can go really fast sometimes. That is okay. As
long as I break his serve enough times, that's okay. I managed to
that today, so I'm happy with that. Still, I think that the
victory hangs on my racket, because I play aggressively. If I had
served better today, who knows what would have happened.
Q: --
FEDERER: I think it's two feelings. For sure, it is a shame
that I lost here. At the beginning I had the feeling that it
could go fast. If I had won 6:1, I would have played up strongly.
But you get over it and honestly, now the focus is already on
Paris. It was a nice match and it wasn't funny to lose.
Nevertheless, the focus is in Paris now.
Q: He really ran a lot. Is that phenomenal for you?
FEDERER: He did not play more than I did. He lost first round
in Rome. So, he had a break there not to be forgotten. Of course,
he is still a bit injured but he will get over that. I don't
think the match was specially tough for the body. The rallies
weren't that long, so it wasn't a problem for me. I don't know
how it was for him. He also takes his time between the points in
order to recover. That's why his matches are 1 hour and 40
minutes instead of an hour and 20. That's why sometimes it's
overestimated.
Q: --
FEDERER: Yes, I watched a bit of the Djokovic an Nadal match.
It was interesting. It was good how Djokovic played on clay. I
don't play that way, that's why I could not take so much out of
it for myself. But you can see that against most of the top
players on clay Rafa is mostly the defensive player who needs to
run a lot. But he doesn't do a lot of mistakes and can sometimes
turn things around and play aggressively. That's why he is so
strong. He moves as good as nobody else. That's why he is just
the best at the moment.
Q: …
FEDERER: No, he just plays his thing and it is sufficient,
good, if not, it's a shame. He always plays with a big margin,
always 2 m above the net. That's why he doesn't do a lot of
unforced errors. That's why it is easy for him to play that way.
But you need incredible legs for that and need to be defensive.
And he knows how to do that.
That's why it is a bit difficult. It is an advantage, but if
you are down, then it isn't an advantage because he let's the
opponent back. That is his problem on hard court. Maybe not as
much on grass, because he plays aggressively himself.
Q: --
FEDERER: If somebody starts running on clay, it is difficult
to suppress him with winners. That's why he is so successful on
that surface.
Q: The impression you had from this week is that it was an
ideal tournament. What can the players do to influence the
ATP?
FEDERER: No, the times are over. It's in court. A lot of money
is involved. We tried as good as possible. Now, it's crunch time
and we are quite curios ourselves. The result will come in
August. Who knows maybe it will be delayed and then the schedule
for next year cannot be done as the ATP is intending. So, I am
really curios what will happen during the next couple of
months?
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