Feb 25, 2009 from ESPN Magazine:
Q: Did you see Nadal beat Federer in Australia? Why do you think Federer cried like that? -- Marie

Lil Wayne: I don't know, but I have an idea. I don't play any sports, but I gotta imagine the adrenaline and emotion is so intense for something that big that when you come so close and lose, sometimes it just comes pouring out of you and there is nothing you can do to stop it. The tears just come out on their own. Federer is a warrior and everyone knows that. He can cry if he wants to.

from Sun-Sentinel:
DELRAY BEACH - The closest Yen-Hsun Lu had ever come to beating a former top-ranked player in the world was in 2004 when he took a practice set off Roger Federer.

On a blustery Tuesday afternoon, the 59th-ranked Lu did it for real in toppling former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 on stadium court at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. The eighth-seeded Lu spoiled Hewitt's 28th birthday, forcing organizers to scratch an on-court cake presentation.

from Eurosport:
Q: Who is your sporting hero?

World No. 7 snooker player, Ali Carter: It would have to be somebody like Roger Federer.

Feb 23, 2009 from The National:
DUBAI - Marco Chiudinelli turned a giant-killer on Court One yesterday by knocking out the seventh seed Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 4-6, 7-6.

Chiudinelli will face either Fabrice Santoro or Victor Hanescu in the second round, and he could be making a call to his more well-known countryman Roger Federer for some advice.

“I am not staying at Roger’s house,” Chiudinelli said. “But I have been over to his place and we had dinner together. It is good to have him around.

from Gulf News:
Dubai - Mohammad Al Gareeb's most memorable moment, by far came in the second round of the 2006 edition when he battled Roger Federer.

"That match was so special that it never ceases to motivate me. I have pictures of me with Federer hung in my home and they have put up similar photographs in the office of the Kuwait Tennis Federation," Al Gareeb said.

Feb 22, 2009 from Gulf News:
Dubai - Michael Lammer is a guest of former world No 1 and four-time Dubai champion Roger Federer. And today, he wants to repay this hospitality to one of the world's best players by advancing "as far as possible" in the main draw of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.

"Roger is a good friend and he has allowed me to stay at his apartment here. I hope I can compensate this gesture by going as far as possible in the main draw," Lammer told Gulf News after winning 6-1, 6-3 against Jonathan Dasnieresde Veigy of France yesterday.

"You cannot compare anyone to Roger, and I cannot replace him here. But I hope I will do well in the main competition," the Swiss said.

The 26-year-old is Federer's contemporary on court, seizing every opportunity to learn about tennis from his more gifted countryman.

"A player like Roger comes once in a lifetime. We've had some great sportspeople, but Martina (Hingis) and Roger definitely stand out. Roger is always there to help any of us any time. And besides, he is such a great friend too," Lammer said.

Feb 20, 2009 from Herald Sun:
Darren Cahill's decision to stand down as Davis Cup coach has triggered speculation Roger Federer is poised to hire the South Australian.

Cahill cited personal and business commitments as the reasons behind his decision to stand down as Australia's Davis Cup coach. But his sudden availability yesterday revived one of the most persistent conspiracy theories in tennis: that Federer will recruit Cahill. Cahill yesterday could not be reached for comment.

Feb 18, 2009 from Cody Enterprise:
Working at Nike World Headquarters in Oregon, it's not uncommon for employee Robert Norman to rub shoulders with famous athletes.

"I've seen and met several, but it's a professional atmosphere when they come to campus," he said. "It's like their safe haven so you don't ask for pictures or autographs."

Occasionally, when extremely popular athletes are on campus, Nike hosts a special day for them. They will have a meet and greet and also may have the athlete surprise a few people.

Feb 17, 2009 from Roger Federer Official Site:
Dear Fans,

Today I am disappointed to announce that I am withdrawing from both Dubai and the Davis Cup tie in the United States. This was a hard decision to make as I am missing not only one of my favorite events on tour in Dubai but I am also missing out on an opportunity to help my country try and move on to the next round of Davis Cup. After injuring my back last fall, I did not have enough time to strengthen it completely. As a precautionary measure, I will use the next few weeks to make sure the back injury is fully rehabilitated and I am ready for the rest of the 2009 season.

Feb 13, 2009 from Stage Select:
SEGA Europe Ltd. and SEGA of America, Inc. today announced that the Virtua Tennis™ series will, for the very first time, be released on the Wii™ system and will hit stores in May 2009.

Wii owners will finally be able to take to the courts in the fan's number one tennis game, boasting all the features and arcade action that has made Virtua Tennis the most critically acclaimed and best selling tennis series available. Virtua Tennis 2009 for Wii includes the same impressive player roster as Virtua Tennis 2009 on other platforms, meaning top stars such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams will all be in the game, as well as players new to the series such as Andy Murray and Ana Ivanovic. Over 40 vibrant court environments will be playable within single player, multiplayer and online modes giving Virtua Tennis 2009 an impressive online and offline depth for a Wii title.

The list of Court Games has also been updated for Virtua Tennis 2009, meaning the return of old Virtua Tennis favorites, some revamped classics, and five new games. Virtua Tennis 2009 for the Wii will also include the official Davis Cup® license and the World Tour Mode, which will allow Wii owners to experience Virtua Tennis online.

Feb 9, 2009 from Roger Federer Official Site:
Dear Fans

I would like to thank you for the overwhelming amount of messages and letters you sent me this past week. Losing the Australian Open final certainly hurt, but it is important to move on and focus on the challenges lying ahead. I feel fine and fit and am eager to get back on court. I have enjoyed a few days off, which was great, and will soon be training again.

Thank you once again for supporting me and giving me such a lot of positive input! A lot of you have noticed that my website was slow after the final Down Under. The reason for that was the enormous amount of traffic – more than we had ever experienced before. New hardware for the server has been ordered and will be installed as soon as possible so that you can enjoy rogerfederer.com without hassles in the future!

Feb 7, 2009 from Independent:
By James Lawton - It is interesting that of all the world's active multimillionaire tennis players, the greatest achiever is least aggrieved by the imposition of new and stringent drug testing.

While Andy Murray rails at the idea that for an hour of every day he has to account for his movements – even when he is suffering from jet lag – Roger Federer concedes that, however irksome, it is probably necessary for the image of the game.

Feb 6, 2009 from SportBusiness:
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) announced that Pitch International will exclusively distribute the media rights for a new weekly magazine show.

The programme, which will highlight all the best action from the ATP World Tour including the Masters 1000, 500 and 250 tournaments, is scheduled to be launched in August 2009.

Feb 4, 2009 from Dubai City Guide:
Roger Federer is set to make an appearance in Dubai at an exclusive event 'Meet and Greet' by Jura. Federer will take part in a panel discussion and share his tips on what it takes to stay on top, even when the going gets tough. The event is set for February 19 2009 at Dubai's One & Only Royal Mirage Hotel.

According to Markus Hacker, General Manager of Coffema International, Jura's exclusive distributor in the UAE, the event is a part of Jura's international series - 'Meet and Greet with Roger Federer'.

from ASAP Sports:
Q. I just want to reflect back on Australian Open for a moment, since it was, again, another epic final between Rafa and Federer. And I'm wondering, it seems like not very long ago where everyone talked about Federer as he was this wall that nobody could hurdle, and he would be there for so long. I'm wondering are guys on the tour looking at Rafa the same way already? Or has he kind of already assumed that mantle of the ultimate hurdle because he's been so dominant in the last month, or is he still too young for that?

JAMES BLAKE: No, I think what you're looking for is who has that No. 1 next to their name. When you've got No. 1 sex to you, you've got the biggest target. You've got that bullseye on your back. He's got it. A lot of guys still respect and admire Roger as one of the greats of all time the same way when Pete was 32 years old, he wasn't No. 1 in the world, but people still respected him and didn't want to see his name next to theirs in the draw.

But if you've got the No. 1, you've earned it. It's not like -- this isn't a sport where you can just kind of milk your way to No. 1. You've got to prove it over an entire year. That's why we have that rolling system. So if you have the No. 1, that is the ultimate hurdle. You beat the No. 1 player in the world, and you've really accomplished something.

Q. What is your thought since you're playing the guy on Monday with the 14. There was Roger was clearly so emotional about not getting that. I'm wondering, do you think he has plenty of time to still get it at some point?

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I think he does. He's only 27 years old. He'll be playing for at least three or four more years. You know, he's still extremely successful on hard or grass.

He's always said he felt just as comfortable on clay, but the way Rafa's been playing and the way a lot of these guys specialize on clay, I think that's going to be by far the most difficult. But I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him get one, two, or three more. You never know.

The thing is the way he was playing the last few years, he set the bar so high. But if he relaxes and gets one more, I don't see any reason why he can't still get two, three, four more. That would pretty much solidify him as the greatest of all time. But I don't want to be sort of -- I don't make tons of predictions or anything. But I think he's got that opportunity.

Q. You mentioned before that the losses still hurt regardless of where they happen. Were you surprised to see how emotional Federer was after the loss, or can you relate to that?

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, he's a pretty emotional guy, so I could definitely understand that. You know that's just the human side of sports. There's so much that goes into it. There's so much effort, so much training these days that people put such a large part of their lives into it. There's no way I can relate to the feeling of 13 Grand Slams and being on the verge of 14 Grand Slams.

But I think every player at some point has felt like they've gotten to a certain level, and they feel like they could be one notch higher or they feel it would be so much nicer to get that. Whether it's for me or getting that one Grand Slam, or for someone else. Whether it's to get into that Top 100 or they just missed it. And for him, he's dealing with such historical references to be basically the greatest of all time, that you can see how tough that is to be on the verge of it, and not quite get there.

I remember talking to one of the other guys on tour early on in my career when I think a lot of in a few ATP Tour early rounds. I wonder if it's better to be almost good or is it better to have almost no chance and feel this kind of pain. I think that's, you know, and we joked about it and said you want that chance. You want to be in that position and put yourself in there.

Looking back, I think Roger would like to be in that position. He put himself in there, he's got his head on straight enough and enough perspective looking back on it now, that he put himself in that position, and that's all he can do. He did his best. He can't really -- you can't really fault yourself for that. Once you get out there and give it your all.

But at that time he said it, you can't -- the finals is the toughest because you can't just get off the court and jump in the shower and hide from people. You've got to be out there the whole time and go through the ceremony. So that is tough.

Feb 3, 2009 from WAtoday:
Craig Willis was woken bright and early by 3AW brekkie hosts Ross Stevenson and John Burns yesterday to explain why, in his courtside introduction of Roger Federer before Sunday night's men's final, he appeared to refer to the Swiss maestro as having won a tournament in, among other places, the Gippsland town of Wonthaggi.

Willis initially offered that Federer had a mate who ran a small tournament in a little town called Thaggi, "on the border of Switzerland and Liechtenstein", which he played in for fun and duly won. Thus, he had "won Thaggi, and also in Basel, Halle and several other places".

Then he came clean. "There's a little bit of a joke that I've had with him over the years, where prior to the tournament he gives me a word which somehow I can try and work into his introduction on the court," Willis said. "His massage therapist is from Wonthaggi, and like a lot of overseas visitors Roger's intrigued with the names of some of our towns. Wonthaggi was one of them."

Willis recalled Federer setting him the challenge of using "Limeraya" several years ago, an expression the Swiss used when he was a little boy, which roughly equated to kid-speak for something being "cool".

Feb 2, 2009 from The Age:
Roger Federer hiked his way down 30-something floors of stairs when the power went out at Crown on Friday night. He made his way into Melbourne Park, put his feet up and watched Rafael Nadal squeeze past Fernando Verdasco on a TV monitor, with the actual action happening just metres away.

Feb 1, 2009 from Reuters:
MELBOURNE - Rafael Nadal captured the Australian Open title with an enthralling 7-5 3-6 7-6 3-6 6-2 win over Roger Federer on Sunday, denying the Swiss a chance to win a record-equaling 14th grand slam title.

Sunday's final at Melbourne Park lived up to all expectations as the two best players of their generation slugged it out for almost 4-1/2 hours in a classic match packed with magical shotmaking and intense drama.

The momentum swung back and forth throughout before Nadal broke in the fourth game of the deciding set when Federer slapped a backhand into the net then again in the eighth game to seal a famous victory.

Nadal broke Federer in the opening game and despite twice losing his own serve, he wrapped up the first set in 58 minutes after the Swiss master overcooked two backhands.

Nadal was again the first to break in the second set when Federer mistimed a forehand over the baseline but Federer won the next four games to level the match.

There were no service breaks in the third set but Nadal saved three break points in the ninth and 11th games while Federer survived a set point to force the tiebreaker.

While Nadal lost the first point on his serve, he regained his composure to win four on the trot after they were level at 3-3 to grab a two sets to one lead.

The pair traded breaks early in the fourth set before Federer saved five break points in the fifth game then broke Nadal in the next to seize the initiative.

Federer safely held his two games to force the match into a deciding fifth, the first time an Australian Open final had gone the distance since 1988.