Roger Federer's Toronto 23. July Interview
Q. What happened today?ROGER FEDERER: Missed opportunities, I guess. One of those matches maybe I think I should have never lost, you know. Having an easy volley in the, what was it, 3-1 and game point. That one cost me dearly in the end, so it was a disappointing match today.
Q. Seems as though your mentally and physically drained from Wimbledon.
ROGER FEDERER: You wouldn't have asked me that if I would have won, right? So I guess.
Q. Talk about part of Simon's game that was the most troubling to you or just the most difficult to play against tonight.
ROGER FEDERER: No, I think the problem was my game today, you know. I had everything to really put him away. I didn't think I served well today at all. It's tough. Different balls than at Wimbledon.
I was serving 70% in Wimbledon and here I'm serving 50%. Can't serve any aces, so it's just a different type of the match.
Maybe I guess first match on hard court couldn't sneak through maybe the way I usually can, so it hurts obviously. It hurts your momentum because I think I get through the match and I get into the tournament and start playing better.
But I got caught cold, so it's kind of hard.
Q. In the last game of the match, I think a lot of people were expecting you to still come back and maybe take it to 5-All. The four unforced errors in a row was so unusual to see that from you. What happened there?
ROGER FEDERER: I don't remember those points. It's all a blur right now, so...
Q. How do you regroup?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, what do we got, four days?
Q. Yeah.
ROGER FEDERER: Great. So, no, I don't know. Play doubles. Try to win the doubles here. That's what I'm looking at here.
Q. I saw you were not too happy with the officiating?
ROGER FEDERER: With the what, the umpire?
Q. Yeah.
ROGER FEDERER: Never an issue for me. I'm never going to win or lose because of an umpire, so I don't care.
Q. To some extent, do you agree with Justine Henin's decision to retire at the peak of her career?
ROGER FEDERER: Do I agree with that? Not today. Ask me another day. Please don't kill me with questions like this.
Q. In the third set I think you guys were tied 4-4 and he was up 15-Love on his serve. You had a ball that was called in and he challenged it and it was in. It was right, but it seemed they didn't award you a point. I don't know if you caught that, but some of us watching picked that up, and he won the next point and you weren't really awarded anything.
ROGER FEDERER: What happened there?
Q. It was 15-Love on his serve.
ROGER FEDERER: Then?
Q. He challenged a call and it was in and it remained 15-Love and you didn't get anything and he picked up the next point and it went to 30-Love.
ROGER FEDERER: But it was supposed to be replayed, so I don't think I could have taken the point. The best I could get out of that situation was to replay the point. That's what I got, and I lost the point.
Yeah, I mean, that's the problem sometimes like on clay, right? You stop play and it's good so you replay the point. If it was a clean winner, yeah, then obviously it's 15-All, but not in that situation.
Q. Seemed that he was very willing to trade forehands with you, sort of crosscourt forehands, which seems a bit unusual. Did you pick up on that?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, he's a good baseliner. We saw that today. He moves well. He's deceiving because he's kind of thin and tall but moves really well for his height, you know. He flicks a lot of balls with his backhand as well, so when you come in you can't see where he plays.
Yeah, I mean, I think I did really well for a long time trading forehands with him. As the match went on I struggled a little bit to put the forehands away. Got maybe a little bit unlucky to get broken in the second set when he had a net cord and a shank on the line. I ended up losing that game.
Of course I came back, but I think I had really good momentum and I was playing well. I should have put him away in two sets. After that I guess he got a little bit of a lift and he was comfortable trading forehands with me. So, you know who knows, maybe in the long run paid him the match really. I don't know.
Q. At 4-3 in the third I believe you were serving. You had an exchange with the chair umpire. Could you talk about that?
ROGER FEDERER: Not today.
Q. No?
ROGER FEDERER: Didn't lose because of that.
Q. Everyone has losses...
ROGER FEDERER: Another try. Here we go.
Q. Sorry.
ROGER FEDERER: No problem.
Q. How do you regroup from something like this for the rest of the hard court season?
ROGER FEDERER: It's a bad start, no doubt. Wish it could have been different. Like I said, going to try to do well in doubles and practice on the side.
Only really three, four days of practice since Wimbledon. It's not an excuse in any way, but I'm going to get some practice in. There's plenty of players around, so don't know when I'm leaving this place and going to Cincy yet. Depends on the doubles much.
It's important to stay positive. Hard court season just started. It's the start of, what is it, nine months of hard court. It's not the end of the world, but I wish it could have started better.
I like this surface and like this tournament. I've done well here in the past, so it definitely hurts.
But like you say, I've got to regroup and look forward. Bigger picture is the Olympic Games and the US Open. This is really the place where I want to win, so I have to make sure I'm ready for that.
(source ASAP Sports, photo/Reuters)
Comment
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Comment by Jonathan on July 28, 2008 at 11:28am
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I think it's a little unfair how the press is dogging Roger so much...and it's clearly taking a toll on him. When was the last time you heard Roger make a smart a** comment to a reporter during a press conference? It seems to happen almost all the time now. Even when Sampras was on the downswing of his career, he didn't get questioned this much. What Roger needs to do is act like a football player and study some game film. It's obvious that Nadal has stepped up his level...he's won 5 STRAIGHT TOURNAMENTS. Federer has to look at the holes (if there are some...start with the serve) in Nadal's game and challenge him. It almost seems like Roger concedes to Rafa sometimes and GOAT's don't that. If he wants to go down as one of the best in history, he has to persevere like the others before him...only time will tell what happens next.
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