Roger Federer Interview After Losing His Match Against Rafael Nadal

 

Q.  Do you look at this as completely the end of 2013, you'll forget about this tournament, start with a clean slate, or is there anything from this you'll carry over into the new season?
ROGER FEDERER:  I think always the end of the season carries over in some way, shape or form, good or bad.  Clearly you look at the whole season as a whole.  But then again, it's just about hard work, about relaxing a little bit, recover from all the inflammations you might have in your body, because those also need to disappear a little bit because you try to start the next season as physically good as you can, sort of mentally refreshed, I'd say.
You're going to look back a little bit, but once you actually start the off‑season, I think you're just happy to be playing tennis again after a bit of a break.  Then you kind of start sitting down on what would you like to work on, where do you feel like your game's got to go.  That's really only later in the later stages of practice.
Towards the end is where you maybe start talking about future opponents and that stuff.  In the off‑season, you take a break from all that stuff, the tactical maneuvering.

Q.  You said you hoped you'd be able to play with a little bit pressure than usual, an underdog situation.  Were you able to play in the way you wanted to?
ROGER FEDERER:  Uhm, at times, you know.  Not throughout.  Went for it when I had a chance for a breakpoint in the first set.  Maybe I shouldn't have, but I did.  No regrets there, I guess.
You know, I just struggled to stay consistent enough throughout the match, and that's why he deserved to win.  You know, he was better today.

Q.  At the beginning of the match your serve was fluid and you had breakpoints.  It could have gone another way?
ROGER FEDERER:  Could have, yeah.  But also could have not, and it didn't at the end.  That's all that matters really.
I very rarely go through matches where I had no chance and no opportunities.  This game is a game of, you know, making or missing your opportunities.  Today was a little bit more of that, again.
But I thought, you know, the margins were more on his side.  He was playing more consistent.  He was playing more solid.  He plays the way he always plays.  I just couldn't come up with the shots when I needed them, forehand or serve, moving forward.
It's unbelievable that he gets away with playing so far back indoors these days, but that's the conditions.  So credit to him for making that work for him.

Q.  You seem to really hit over on your backhand a lot in the returns, also hit it down the line.  Do you feel you were hitting it well?  Was that part of the plan?  Can you also talk about what it is about Nadal that makes it so difficult to slice effectively against him.
ROGER FEDERER:  Well, he's a lefty, number one.  That makes everything different.  If you compare to yesterday's match and today's match, it's like I have to play two different ways.  So for me it's much more of a change.  It's not an excuse.  But I definitely have to play totally different.
He can play pretty much the same like he plays against Berdych and Stan, so forth.  It's definitely more up to me to getting used to the lefty spin quicker.  Coming over the return very often instead of chipping it, which I've been doing it all week.
There's always going to be a bit of an up and down from that standpoint.  But I thought it was okay at times, you know.  But just my court positioning, getting used to knowing exactly the dimension, how things are going to work out is sometimes a bit tricky.  That's why I either chose the wrong side or I can't get the read I usually get like you get with del Potro, Gasquet or Djokovic for that matter.
That's why it really changes everything around.  He does a good job picking up the slice.  He does a good job staying on the baseline when he needs to.  He can also play from the back.  He has multiple options.  That's what makes him so difficult to play against.

Q.  I know 2013 is only just finishing.  At this stage, if you look at 2014, what would be a satisfactory year for you?  Would it be one where you didn't have any physical issues?  Where you improved your ranking?  Would you still very much feel a Grand Slam is what makes a satisfactory year for you?
ROGER FEDERER:  Yeah, winning titles, winning five titles or something, I guess, something exciting, leaving the tournaments as winner.  That's what keeps things exciting.
Rankings, if it's not world No.1, then I'm not that, you know, interested in.  Even though you kind of look at it, it would be nice to stay in the top four, top eight, that kind of thing, for seeding purposes more than anything else.  Other than that, it's either world No.1 or tournaments or big tournaments in general.

Q.  How important is it to you next year going in to have a ranking that going to get you in positions where you might not have to face these top guys early on, playing Novak or Rafa early on in tournaments?  Is that important to you?  Secondly, where do you assess yourself after the last few weeks of the season here?
ROGER FEDERER:  Well, it doesn't matter if I play them in the last 16s or quarters, to be honest.  The points difference is minor.  Losing in the quarters is like losing in the first round for us at the top.  That's why either you're good enough to make it to the semis and finals, and then especially wins.  It's really a tour of winners.
If you look at the points difference from the points I'll make during this tournament and what the winner's going to make, it's like I never even played this tournament almost, which is fine.  The winner deserves it all.
It's very extreme.  That's why when you don't win tournaments, you're not at the very, very top consistently, your ranking definitely starts slipping.
But, you know, I think something's possible for next year.  I think it was a stronger finish than I thought it was going to be in Basel, Paris and London.  I'm more positive now looking ahead than I would have been a few months ago where I wasn't quite sure what to expect after the US Open.
But, you know, I'm back confident and excited, you know, going into the off‑season and starting again next year.  Like I mentioned, the rankings are secondary for me.  It's important to stay within a certain ranking.  But after that I need to make sure I stay competitive, I can hang with the best, and particularly beat the best.

Q.  What have you learnt specifically from this week and how confident are you that you'll be back here again next year?
ROGER FEDERER:  Well, what I learned is that I can play three weeks pretty easily.  I played a lot of matches, you know, as of late, a lot of three‑setters, a lot of tennis.  From that standpoint, that's very satisfying, knowing that the body can do it, the mind can do it, life allows it to happen.
I'm happy that I have that option, as well, that I know I can play three weeks in a row because I remember Agassi didn't do that at all any more towards the end of his career.  He used to play one, maybe two, he would always pull out the third week if there was something planned.
For me I was happy I was able to play Basel, Paris, here in London, through extremely tough conditions with a lot of running, tennis, traveling, so forth.  From that standpoint, I'm very pleased.
You know, just again beating two top‑10 players is a good thing for me after not having beaten any for almost seven or eight months.  Considering the back issues I've had, I'm pleased that I'm pain‑free for a long period of time now with a lot of tennis.  That's definitely also going to give me confidence physically and also mentally.

Q.  (No microphone.)
ROGER FEDERER:  Nobody is.  It's not a free ticket.  Not like you guys (laughter).

Q.  You played Rafa 32 times since the start of 2004.  Do you feel like he's substantially improved since then or do you feel like you have, since you first played him?
ROGER FEDERER:  Who improved more?

Q.  Just talk about his level of improvement and then your own.
ROGER FEDERER:  Hmm.  Well, I think he definitely starts to play better, naturally better, on the quicker courts, you know.  There was no way around that because usually 70% of the tour you play is on hard court.  So he just had to get used to that more, I guess.
The good thing is, in the beginning stages, how old was he when I played him first, 18?  That is still young.  The improvement you're going to make from 18 to 22 is always going to be an extreme one, especially in his situation, because he was on tour.  He's a quick learner.  He's a great player.
Everybody played to his weakness.  Everybody played the backhand, like everybody played at my backhand at first.  That becomes more consistent.  Then they go harder to your forehand.  Then you improve that.  Eventually you become that well‑molded player he is today, which we know.  I think he improved lots.
For me, in 2004, I was already established.  For me, it was about maintaining, staying injury‑free already.  I was in a totally different phase of the career.  For that reason I don't think you can compare it actually.

Q.  About Rafa, do you think he has arrived at the moment when he is going to win this Masters Cup?  If he does it, what does it mean for you winning everything, all four Grand Slams, Olympics, Masters Cup?
ROGER FEDERER:  What does it mean?  I would be very happy for him.  In general, I'll be very happy for him.  I think he would deserve it because he's improved a lot on all conditions.  He put himself in a position to win this tournament before.  Here he is again after missing it last year.
I think it's nice for him.  His season, finishing world No.1, almost you would expect the world No.1 to be in the finals of this tournament.  That's the case.  I think it's great for the tournament.
Clearly have to wait and see how the match goes tonight.  Don't know if he would be the favorite against Djokovic, but he would probably be definitely the favorite against Stan.
It's an interesting night for him, and he's probably hoping that Stan's going to win tonight.

Q.  What is it especially about this sport and your love for it that wants you to keep coming back year after year?
ROGER FEDERER:  I don't know.  What do you like about writing?
For me, it's pretty simple:  this is what I used to do as a little boy, you know.  It's something that always is there in your DNA.  It's almost like I started walking at the same time I started playing tennis in some ways, you know.  It's like one of those moments where you're just happy out on the court, you're happy improving, happy trying to change things, adjusting now.
Clearly today it's different than when I was 12 years old, you know, trying to just I don't want to say have fun, I was trying to make a breakthrough on some certain level back then as well.  It's just something I enjoy doing.
The thing is that when you stop, you're still so young that why stop so early?  Why just walk away from it because, I mean, I have many other things to do in my life than play tennis, but because I can still choose, I pick to play.  As long as I have this choice, I'll keep on playing.

Q.  Clearly the older you get, the harder it is to bounce back from tough matches.  You've spoken about that quite a lot.  One of the extraordinary things about Rafa and Novak is this ability they seem to have to bounce back in a very short space of time from a grueling match.  From your experience, how much longer will they be able to do that at 26, 27?  At what point for a fine‑tuned athlete does this become more of an issue?
ROGER FEDERER:  Well, I don't know.  I mean, I don't know where the game's going to go.  They're clearly in their prime right now in terms of age and the way they're playing and rankings and so forth.  So from that standpoint you would think that's going to still be for some time they'll be able to do that.
Rafa started earlier on the tour.  He was unbelievably successful as a teenager, like Bjorn Borg was.  I think they're the two most successful teenagers we've had in our sport already.  So for Rafa maybe, you almost have to consider him a little older.  Plus he's had more severe injuries than Novak has.  I don't know how much that plays into it all.
I think for them it's more about commitment, wanting to do it, wanting to bounce back, wanting to take the pain day in, day out.  That's the grind that's more difficult than I think the actual bounce‑back.
I just played three weeks in a row.  It's fine, you know.  Of course, I was a little tired today, but you can block that out to a degree.  From that standpoint, I think the way they play, the way they do all of that defending, it's just something you really want.  If you don't want it any more, then retirement probably comes in very quickly.

Q.  Are you planning to play next season more tournaments than this year?  Is there an 18th Grand Slam title, a chance you might have next year?
ROGER FEDERER:  I don't know if I'm going to play more necessarily.  I'm just going to play a full schedule.  What that means, I don't know yet.  I mean, it's pretty much planned through my season.
Clearly Grand Slams are going to be part of my highlights, hoping to sort of make sure I play my best there with some selective other events that I consider important to me, some of the Masters 1000s.  Then hopefully I have something left for the World Tour Finals at the end of next year because that's clearly a goal.  Then just some personal goals because there's a big gap, as well, between Australia and the French Open.
I just still have to decide what the goal is there, then I'll just attack and try to play good tennis.

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Why Roger Federer Is The Greatest Of All Time

 

Roger Federer, was the big story coming into the Open; the state of his game dominated the conversation for most of the tournament. But the big story coming out of the Open is his longtime nemesis, Rafael Nadal, who won the men's single title last night with an enthralling four-set victory over the world No. 1, Novak Djokovic. The win gives the 27-year-old Spaniard his 13th grand-slam singles title at exactly the same age that Federer won his 13th, which leaves the whole GOAT debate even more unsettled. GOAT? That’s short for greatest of all time and is an acronym that has been tossed around promiscuously during the Federer years. With a record 17 majors highlighting his numerous career achievements, Federer has staked a strong claim to GOAT status. But he has a losing record against Nadal, and a lopsided one at that. The two have played 31 times since 2004, and Nadal has won 21 of those matches. Federer’s record against Nadal is a large blot on an otherwise remarkable résumé. How can you be considered the greatest player ever if you were arguably not even the best player of your own era? When I spoke with Federer at Wimbledon, he didn’t object when I noted that some feel that Nadal ought to be regarded as the finest male player of all time. “I believe we’ll never quite know,” Federer told me.

For the moment, I’m not so equivocal: I think Federer has earned the GOAT label. Yes, he has a lousy record against Nadal. However, none of the other players who figure prominently in the GOAT discussion — Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Don Budge — had to contend with a foe like Nadal, who is now third behind Federer and Sampras among men’s all-time grand-slam winners. Fifteen of Nadal’s 31 matches against Federer were on clay, Nadal’s best surface, and the Nadal won 13 of those. The usual tactic, at this point in any GOAT discussion, is to take clay out of the equation. But let’s not. Let’s instead acknowledge Nadal for the clay-court colossus that he is. Let’s also acknowledge what Federer has achieved on clay, even though it is his weakest surface. He has reached the final of the French Open five times, winning it once, has won 10 clay-court tournaments in total, has lost to Nadal in the finals of 11 others (including four times at the French) and has established himself as not only the second-best clay-court player of his generation but as one of the best of the modern era. If Nadal didn’t exist, it is possible we would be talking about Federer as the greatest clay courter of all time.
Meanwhile, despite his struggles with Nadal, Federer claimed 17 majors, spent over 300 weeks as the No. 1 ranked player, won six year-end championships and reached the semifinals of 23 straight grand-slam events and the quarterfinals 36 consecutive times — a display of consistency and durability the likes of which the sport has perhaps never seen. Federer has done all this at a time when the competition is deeper than it has ever been, and he has played tennis as beautifully as it has ever been played. Do yourself a favor: go to YouTube, type in “Federer greatest shots” and enjoy the show; just be sure to have a soft place for your jaw to land.

I recognize that aesthetic pleasure might seem like a weak argument to offer on Federer’ s behalf, but for most of its history, tennis was a sport that showcased things like elegance and finesse, and many of us fusspots still prize those qualities. At Wimbledon in June, I watched Federer crush a player named Victor Hanescu in a first-round match on Center Court that barely lasted an hour. Federer’s creative flair and improvisational genius was on full display, and in that hour, I derived so much more enjoyment than I get from watching, say, Djokovic and Andy Murray push each other around the baseline for four hours. The fact that Federer, in addition to all the winning, has been able to conjure such ethereal tennis while matching the firepower of his rivals and at a time when so many things — the rackets, the strings, the courts, the size, strength and speed of the players — conspire against the expression of beauty in tennis, is testament to his greatness.

But just as he had the last word at this year’s Open, Nadal may yet have the last word in the GOAT debate. If he can stay healthy (a big if: he has struggled with injuries for much of his career), he is certainly capable of equaling or even surpassing Federer’s record. Were that to happen, the combination of major titles plus the winning record against Federer would make it tough even for the most stalwart Federer partisans to deny Nadal the GOAT label. Beauty matters in tennis, but ultimately, numbers matter more.

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Roger Federer Last Interview

Q.  Obviously a difficult day for you.  A disrupting day as well.  Did the fact you had to switch courts, was that a difficulty at all?
ROGER FEDERER:  No.  I mean, that should not be the issue.  I've waited for so many matches throughout my career.  That's definitely the last excuse you could find, you know.
I mean, I've been practicing on Armstrong, so there's no excuse there either.  I was prepared for it.  I was even happy about it.  I thought it was going to be a great atmosphere, that I could, you know, take advantage of maybe the fact that people were really going to get behind me, make it a great atmosphere.
But unfortunately, you know, I didn't show the game that they could really get into it and excited about.  That's how it goes sometimes.

Q.  What went wrong for you?  Physically your game, you couldn't find a rhythm?
ROGER FEDERER:  Yeah, I mean, I think I started badly, which put me down a break.  Then I was able to come back in that one.
But it's true, I mean, I struggled throughout, which is not very satisfying, to be honest.  I mean, Tommy did a good job to keep the ball in play and make it difficult for me today.
I missed so many opportunities.  Rhythm was off.  Yeah, when those things happen, clearly it's always going to be difficult, you know.

Q.  Do you think also it's a matter of confidence at this point that when things go wrong, you start to, I don't know, get angry at yourself or nervous, you're not as evoluted as you normally are?
ROGER FEDERER:  Yeah, probably.  Confidence does all these things.  It takes care of all the things you don't usually think about, you know.
But I just think it's been a difficult last three months, you know.  Maybe ‑ how do you say ‑ my consistency is just not quite there yet.  Maybe on a daily basis, set‑by‑set or point‑by‑point basis, maybe that's something that has been difficult for me, you know.
So maybe that was one of the reasons I lost today.

Q.  Being more negative?
ROGER FEDERER:  No, I mean playing up and down.  Then against a quality player, it becomes more difficult to keep that level up.

Q.  Was the back an issue today?
ROGER FEDERER:  No.

Q.  Anything going on there?
ROGER FEDERER:  No issue.

Q.  I'm sure you're not happy with your performance, but what is going on through your mind?
ROGER FEDERER:  I kind of feel like I beat myself, you know, without taking any credit away from Tommy.  Clearly he was making sure he was making many balls.  It was up to me to make the difference and I couldn't.
I kind of self‑destructed, which is very disappointing, especially on a quicker court.  Your serve helps you out.  You're going to make the difference somewhere.
I just couldn't do it.  It was a frustrating performance today.

Q.  What about the anticipation, maybe the disappointment of not getting into the quarterfinals against Rafa?
ROGER FEDERER:  Yeah, I mean, it would have been a quarters, not a final.  Not that much of a disappointment at the end of the day.  If I'm playing like this, I'm not going to beat Rafa, or Kohlschreiber, for that matter.
So, for me, I didn't think of that.  I've been too often in this situation.  I was fighting with other things in my match today.  Not thinking too far ahead of myself, especially the level I was playing at.

Q.  The conditions seemed slow.  Did you have a chance to practice before the rain?  How did you feel during the warmup?
ROGER FEDERER:  Actually, believe it or not, Armstrong is a bit faster than Arthur Ashe.  Clear, it was very humid.  Definitely it's been humid the last couple of days now.  That also had an effect on both players, you know, how you can maybe hold the grip, the timing you get through it.
But there again, I mean, it's not like it's just humid on my side and not on his.  It's all around humid for everybody watching.
Yeah, it was a different type of court, atmosphere, surface speed, if you like.  But then again, you know, I know Tommy's game really well.  We've played so often against each other.  There's no secrets out there today.  Credit to him for playing a good match today.

Q.  Did you feel all right during the practice?
ROGER FEDERER:  Normal.  Doesn't really matter, practice, to me, you know.

Q.  You're known as such a great closer, 2 for 16 on breakpoints.
ROGER FEDERER:  Yeah, that was a great close.
No, it wasn't a very good close today.

Q.  No.  Could you talk about your difficulty on breakpoints?  Secondly, were you overall surprised by your performance today, by the result?
ROGER FEDERER:  I mean, I think I explained enough, you know.  We have a forehand here, end up losing the point like three times.  Every time like he comes ‑‑ you play where he's standing, and, I mean, it just ended up being a bad combination of many things today.
So I've definitely got to go back to work and come back stronger, you know, get rid of this loss now as quick as I can, forget about it, because that's not how I want to play from here on.  I want to play better.  I know I can.  I showed it the last few weeks, that there is that level.  So today was pretty frustrating.

Q.  I know it's right after the match, but do you anticipate you're going to make any changes to your training program or regimen?
ROGER FEDERER:  No.  I mean, who knows?  I haven't thought of it right away, you know.  Nothing goes past the hard work, you know.  However you want to see it, whatever that means to you, you know, as a player, or in the fitness room, I'll make sure I'll put the work in.  Once I decide what that is, I'll believe in it and go after it.
So in some ways, as a player, you're always excited about that prospect because there's always something to look forward to, even in a big disappointment like the match today.

Q.  I don't know if the Masters Cup is one of your goals or not, but you are a little bit in trouble.  Would you change maybe your schedule in order to do that, or is not really that important for you to be in the top 8 at the end of the year?
ROGER FEDERER:  I'm not really thinking about it.  I don't think I'll change my schedule accordingly.  I believe if I do play well, I'll make good results.  If I make it or not, then we'll see.
But important for me, first and foremost, that I move better, that I play better.  My problem is there in training, not actually playing matches right now.

Q.  You played Robredo a lot in the past.  Did he do anything differently, show anything different from when you played him in the past?
ROGER FEDERER:  No, he didn't.  Pretty simple.  No surprises.  He didn't serve and volley or chip and charge.  He stood back the way he usually does.  He kick serves the way he usually does.

Q.  You're such an instinctive player.  The game always has seemed to come so easily to you.  Do you think it's even more difficult, someone who is a natural touch player when the timing is off, it even looks worse when we're used to you hitting the ball so sweetly?
ROGER FEDERER:  Maybe.  Look, then again, it's always been a fine line, especially in the beginning of my career when I didn't have the results to back me up.  People thought, Did he even try?  Does he care much?  Like, He can play so well.  Is it so terrible?
Now, with the results, I know you don't believe that so much.  That's the good thing.  The story of my life:  when I lose, people are shellshocked to see me play this way.  If I win, it's the best thing.
Yeah, I can see that.  But there's no doubt about it, I'm trying hard out there trying to make it work.  Sometimes it just doesn't happen.

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Roger Federer Interview After Losing His Match Against Rafael Nadal

 

Q.  Roger, match went really along the lines of how you hoped up until about 4‑5 in the second set.  Can you take us through that game.

ROGER FEDERER:  What I remember.  I think I remember being up 40‑30.  Maybe.  I'm not sure.  I had a forehand or had it lined up.  Anyways, I hit a good serve, and I guess you get out of that game to go 5‑All; he hung tough and got the break.

So I think credit to him for hanging in there, for getting back tough shots, and probably making me hit the extra ball, I don't know.

It wasn't a bad game, but definitely some disappointment in that game.

Q.  Did you think, for the most part tonight, you got your tactics absolutely right?  You played the game on your terms for the most part?

ROGER FEDERER:  Yeah, I guess so.  Yeah, I mean, not totally unhappy about the match, you know.  I could have played a bit better, but at times, you're right, I think I was playing well and tactics were working.

Of course, I always have to adjust to faster courts, slower courts when I play Rafa, plus it is him; it's the type of game I don't see very often.

But I think tonight I did pretty well and felt good out there, serving well particularly for most of the match.  Then maybe a bit less end of the second, beginning of the third.

But I think also maybe Rafa was able to step it up.  So maybe a combination.  So that was the match right there.

Q.  Rafa had quite a hard time to return your serve in the first set, beginning of second set.  Do you think the fact the sun went down, temperature dropped, maybe the conditions changed a little bit had an impact on the match?

ROGER FEDERER:  I don't think so.  I think it's maybe more my quality of serving that went down just a little bit, which was enough for him then to get a little bit more second serves, maybe get back a few more first serves eventually.

So I think it had more something to do with that than the temperature itself.  It wasn't that different in terms of temperature.  So I would put it more on maybe my serving, to be honest.

Q.  Roger, it seemed like you really did seem to rise to the level of the challenge of playing Nadal.  He's been one of the best players.  Do you feel that, yourself summoning better tennis than you have in the past few months just because of who was across the net?

ROGER FEDERER:  The end was?

Q.  Just summoning better tennis than you have in the past couple of months.

ROGER FEDERER:  No, I'm happy with my progress along the way.  Could have won tonight, should have won tonight, who knows?

But at the end, I think Rafa's confidence and the way he's playing at the moment got him through.  So for me, I think it was a good step in the right direction.

My mind's already totally geared into what I'm going to do tomorrow, next day, and the following day, and, you know, looking ahead at the US Open.

So I'm excited about the next sort of ten days.

Q.  Roger, in that final game, you had already saved four match points.  You hit that forehand to hit the net cord and it sailed long.  What was going through your mind when you stood there with your hands on your hips just looking at it going on?

ROGER FEDERER:  Not a whole lot.  Maybe it would have gotten to my forehand anyway, so too late at that point maybe to get really angry.

Should have done better probably at the end of the second, beginning of the third.  So I was playing with very little margin at that point.  A bit of luck maybe would have helped me.

But maybe also Rafa let me back into that game anyway.  So you can take it however you want, but it was just a tough situation because he got the let cord he wanted; I didn't get it right on the shot after that.

But, hey, I've been lucky enough in my life, so it's okay.

Q.  Roger, you said after the last match that one of the things that you wanted out of this week was to get information about your game and maybe about your body going into the US Open.

ROGER FEDERER:  Right.

Q.  So what did you kind of get out of this match in terms of that?

ROGER FEDERER:  Well, out of the tournament, I know my body's fine and my mind's okay, so that's two good things looking ahead.

Then definitely getting information in terms of tactics, in terms of point‑for‑point mentality.  It's something that's been really difficult to do for the last sort of few months for me.

Either I won easily, and then I have some reason I didn't play well in a match at all and I ended up losing ‑ I don't want to say without any chances because I rarely lose without having any chances at all ‑ but it's good for me to sort of have three tough matches here.

Even the Kohlschreiber match I had to tough it out in the second set.  He had set point eventually, goes down a break, came back in that.

And against Tommy, the situation was really difficult.  Came back in that as well, played well when it mattered.

And then tonight again it wasn't a bad performance, so I can definitely take more things away from this week than I could for the last sort of three months.

So I'm happy about that.  That sets it up nicely for me for New York, I think.

Q.  Roger, did you think about challenging at all on the last point of the match?

ROGER FEDERER:  At this point it doesn't matter.  I'm sitting here.

Q.  Roger, statistics can be a little brutal, but you're probably going to, I think, fall out of the top 5 next week.  I mean, to some, that would be, oh, God, it's a catastrophe, Roger Federer is not in the top 5 in the world.  What's your take on that?

ROGER FEDERER:  What do you think?

Q.  I think you probably quite don't mind that much.

ROGER FEDERER:  No, I don't.  It doesn't change anything for the US Open.  For after that, as long as you're either in the top 4 or the top 8, I think at this point that's what matters.  Or you're world No.1.

So rankings at this point anyway is not what leads me.  It's about getting my game back on track, and that's what I'm doing well.  So that's what's exciting right now, not the rankings really.

Q.  Roger, can you talk a little bit about some of what your charitable foundation is doing around the world at this point.

ROGER FEDERER:  Yeah, sure.  It's a good time to do that.  I mean, I love those questions, but it's a tough moment to talk about that, you know.  Got all week to talk about it.

No, look, I'm very happy.  We're celebrating the ten‑year anniversary this year of the Roger Federer Foundation.  It's something I'm clearly very proud of.  I can't believe it's been ten years.  It's something that's very close to my heart.

In early childhood education in Southern Africa, not just South Africa, but also other countries, and we're looking to increase the quality of the kids going to school, that more kids can go to school.  And if they do, that they have quality education.  That also the teachers are well educated, and then little things follow suit.

So it's something very exciting.  I just had a trip in February.  I don't know if you saw those pictures.  I went to South Africa on a project trip, which was very inspiring.

I hope I can do more in the future.  I'm always looking for ways to raise awareness or get donations and so forth because I'm very passionate about it. 

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Big Night At Cincinnati Open : Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal

 

In the tennis world their rivalry is one for the ages.

 

Yes, I’m speaking of Roger Federer, the spectacular Swiss, and Rafael Nadal, the sensational Spaniard. These two have brought their matches to the international scene on 30 occasions and now the Western & Southern Open fans will have their first opportunity to behold one of their battles in Friday night’s quarterfinal.

 

If you want to know how impressive these two guys are this marks the first time in history that two players with 29 Grand Slam titles between them will face off in a match. I’m impressed and I suspect readers are too.

 

So how do these two guys feel about their pending match on Friday? Here it is straight from them.

 

Roger Federer: "The year for him has been unbelievable, how he came back (from eight months of the tour in February) and how successful he’s played, almost always achieving finals. So it’s a great season for him. He’s coming into this tournament clearly very confident. I’ll be excited to see how he plays tonight. Then if I play him tomorrow, it’s clearly going to be a difficult match because he comes in with a lot of confidence again."

 

Rafael Nadal: "Always play against Roger is a special feeling.  We have a great history behind us in our confrontations, so it's another quarterfinals.  It's a special one because you're playing against a very special player.  Our matches were very special always."

           

While Federer wins the competition between the two in Grand Slam titles won -- Federer has 17 and Nadal has 12, but Nadal captured one most recently when he claimed an eighth French Open victory in June. Federer also wins the number of titles won competition with 77 to 58 for Nadal, but Nadal’s won eight this year (including last week at the ATP Masters 1000 Montreal), while Federer’s only won the Halle trophy in 2013.

 

But let’s look more to their personal rivalry and take note that Nadal holds an impressive 20-10 lead heading into Friday’s match. And of a particular interesting note, the two are even at 6-6 when it comes to playing hard court matches. Nadal’s won 57 sets to 38 for Federer. They both are even at 10-10 in tiebreaks played against each other.

 

And there’s more ways to break down their rivalry so don’t worry the list has ended -- it hasn’t, at least not yet.

 

The two giants of this era of tennis have played 10 times at Grand Slam events with Nadal leading those meetings 8-2. The last time they met at a Grand Slam was in 2012 at the Australian Open -- Nadal won their semifinal in four sets.

 

Friday’s match marks the 16th time they’ve squared off in the prestigious ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments with Nadal again leading 11-4. The last time they met in an ATP Masters 1000 match was in the Rome final earlier this year with Nadal winning in two sets and only dropping four games in total.

 

As for their meetings by locale, they’ve played each other in 10 different countries. Here in the U.S. they’ve played at two tournaments in the past: in Miami three times and Indian Wells twice. They’ve also played in England five times, France five times, Monaco three times, Spain three times, Australia twice, China Twice, Germany twice, Italy twice, and the United Arab Emirates once. That’s a lot of travel, not to mention meetings.

 

This year the two have played twice with Nadal winning both times: the quarterfinals at the ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells and in Rome.

 

So what’s going to happen on Friday. Well, of course, we won’t know that until the two legends in their own time get out on the Center Court and start knocking the ball around.

 

But here’s a tip to keep in mind. In their previous 30 matches, the guy who won the first set went on to win the match on 23 occasions. And that statistic can be enhanced to the guy who won the first set won the match in 17 of their last 19 outings.

 

I’m sure if you’re like me you can’t wait for the 31st staging of this tennis rivalry extraordinaire right here at the Western & Southern Open. See you there.

 

 

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Roger Federer Next Openent Presentation at Cincinnati 2013

 

 

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Roger Federer Interview After Winning The Match Against Kohlschreiber

 

World No. 5 Roger Federer defeated No. 26 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-6 (7) in the final match of the evening at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.

Fifth-seeded Federer faces Marcel Granollers or Tommy Haas in the third round. The latter players compete Wednesday at 11 a.m. on Court 3.

While Kohlschreiber threatened in the second set of tonight’s match, Federer – who won only two of his 11 break points throughout – persevered. He fell behind 6-7 in the second-set tiebreak but rallied to overcome his German foe.

“Well, I think it was a match where I had to sort of just fight to come through and hope get over the finish line sort of thing. I was playing really well at times, and then sometimes it was maybe a bit up and down. But, you know, assessing the performance overall, I’m very happy,” Federer said.

“It’s good to be back and playing pain free. I don’t know, my mind’s good. I was in a good place while I was playing, so it felt nice to win at the end.”

Federer fired eight aces in a match that lasted nearly 87 minutes. He improved to 7-o all-time against Kohlschreiber.

Here’s what else he said:

So perhaps just a little bit of rust at the start there or during the match just because it was your first match in a while?

RF: Yeah, I mean, I guess so. I guess you could call it rust even though I have played in Hamburg and Gstaad.  I’ve had my matches.  Then again, we haven’t been on the hard courts for quite some time.

I’ve had a tough last few weeks and months, so I mean, I’ve had to fight many things lately. It’s more than just the rust on top of it.  Things are going well for me now, you know. I’m playing freely.  I’m hitting the ball okay actually.

I was quite surprised how well I actually did hit the ball tonight, so that’s a good thing hopefully for the next round too.

Q.  Roger, the conditions were cooler than it’s certainly been in a while.  Did that affect you at all?

RF: No.  Actually, not so much. I think it was actually for better tennis, to be quite honest, because the ball doesn’t fly so much. You can control it better.

So I was happy how conditions were. It wasn’t really cold. I mean, it was cooler for Cincinnati, let’s be honest. But the whole year has been somewhat cooler. If you look back in Australia, it was colder.  Many of the clay court tournaments were colder as well. So it’s been a tough year, if you consider all those factors in.

Even Hamburg, I started to play once really late at night, and that was cold then too at the end.

And did you like the opportunity now to have a day of rest?

RF: I think in my position right now it’s good to have a day off, even though I could play tomorrow, no problem.  God, I’ve played so many matches back to back to back.  I mean, six days in a row and more.

In practice, I’ve just gone, before playing my first round match, I’ve played every day since Wednesday also.  So I’m used to playing every day.

But to be able to reassess my game, look forward, prepare better for the next round, I think it’s good to have a day off right now.

On playing with a new racquet…

RF: I just felt like, you know what, I’m going to play with the old racquet through the US Open right now, and I’m going to do more racquet testing when I have, again, some more time after the US Open.

Yeah, I was playing for a month with the black one, but it’s a prototype. At the end, I just felt like, you know what, right now I feel like I need to simplify everything and just play with what I know best.

I have too many things on my plate right now. So I just said, I want to definitely do my racquet testing and play more with the prototype, but right now I just wanted it to be about forehands and backhands and nothing else.

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