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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPSFebruary 25, 2015Roger FedererDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES R. FEDERER/F. Verdasco THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Good workout for you? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah. I mean, I'm not here to work out and look make sure that my body looks okay, you know. It's more about try to win a match and move on in the draw and hopefully play for the title. No, I'm very happy how the match went. I think it was a good quality match from my side. I think Fernando played well for spells, but I think I was quite consistent in the two breaks maybe I get or maybe avoidable to some extent, but then Fernando is a shot maker and he takes it out of your racquet sometimes. So I'm still very, very pleased the way I played out here tonight. Q. What an extraordinary spell, 1‑4 down. Talk about what happened after that.ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I didn't even know it happened until somebody told me afterwards. I remember when I broke him the second time around, I was like, was that a Love game the first time around already? And I think I held 2‑Love? I wasn't sure anymore. But then I forgot about it, because all I cared about was trying to stay ahead in the score, focus point for point, serve for serve. You know, looking back it's quite a lot of points in a row. It's not the first time it's ever happened to me, but it's a great comeback because I did feel that Fernando was hitting the ball well and came out and played very committed, serving well, so you wouldn't expect that, because especially with a man of variety he has on his serve and forehand, you know, it's like I said, a lot of the times also on his racquet what's going to top. Q. How were you able to switch it on? It was rather magical. ROGER FEDERER: Well, I think I actually played okay, even being down 4‑1. I don't think I should be broken. The first game, I think I was up 30‑Love, and it was a funky situation. 30‑15, he gets away with it. I don't know what happened there. I probably believe I should go up 40‑Love or 40‑15 to some extent. I don't. And then all of a sudden I'm in trouble. Next thing you know, it's like I'm down a break. I felt like I was hitting the ball well already. I realized I was returning well, getting the ball in play, and then also in defense able to stay in the point. And that's why I actually felt like I'm down 4‑1, score is not good but I'm feeling okay, so I didn't really want to fake myself out, but I was trying to stay positive. Then the turnaround was huge. It was big to also carry that over into the second set, I must say. Q. Who would you prefer to play in the final, Berdych or Djokovic? ROGER FEDERER: Either. (Laughter.) No, it really doesn't matter. I think when you're in the finals, you just want to try to, you know, to lift the trophy at the end. But clearly beating somebody like Novak is always extra special like it was the case here last year, and Tomas is a very good player, as well. Yeah, it's not Friday night yet, you know. I hope you can ask that question again another time. Q. How about Richard Gasquet, then? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, what about Richard? Exactly. That, we know. Yeah, I'm looking forward to playing against him. Last time we played was Davis Cup final on that Sunday in front of that big crowd, and it was a lot of pressure. I think this time is going to be a bit more relaxed going in. He's had a great start to the season, also, winning a title and seems like he's playing well. He had a tough one today, but that gave him probably a lot of match time and court time. We will see how he recovers, but we will play tomorrow night. That shouldn't be a problem. Yeah, I mean, I just love his backhand so it's always a pleasure playing against him. Q. You've got a lucky loser. Are you surprised about that with this kind of field? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, that's how it goes sometimes. Sometimes it's a bit a luck of the draw, sometimes matchups at the same time. This is a quick court. I think when there is a quick court like this margins are more narrow and you can pull off an upset easier. That's why I think we have had too slow a surface in previous years. It was just too hard for juniors or qualifiers to make that upset. You know, you had to hit three great forehands and two good backhands to win every single point. Over hours and hours of play, it's just not going to pull off eventually against the best. I think a quicker court you can bluff your way through, you can serve and volley some, can hit a couple of big shots, can go for it. And if you connect at the right time and if you have the right matchup, you can go very deep in these tournaments. That's why I'm actually not surprised ‑‑ it's always nice seeing new faces going deeper in a tournament, and especially quarters at a 500. For those guys, it's a big result, and they have a lot to play for now. Q. Your outfit is one of the bolder ones you have worn. The stripe on the side of the shorts, the first time they showed it to you, were you sold? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I liked it a lot. I actually told them to carry through with it. I said, Let's do it. Yeah, I think it's different, you know. I have worn so many outfits over the years, and I am lucky enough to be able to change my outfit 10 to 12 times a year. How many times can you do a T‑shirt and another colored shirt? I was like, Let's mix it up a little bit. I haven't worn bright colors in some time. I asked if that could be an option. They presented me the shorts. I was like, Okay, let's make sure it's at the right place and it has to look the right way, it has to match in a nice way. I think it actually works okay. I like it, and I hope fans enjoy the energy that comes out of it a bit. Q. Do you keep all your outfits? Do you discard them or give them away? ROGER FEDERER:  I give a lot to charity, of course. And if I have enough, I give to friends and family. And then I always keep probably three of each outfit. Q. You have everything you have ever worn? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah. Q. It's like a museum? ROGER FEDERER:  Yeah, it's in closet, in an archive at the moment just because I feel like I have to keep these things, because I never want to look back and think like, oh, I wish I still had that outfit. Maybe one day I can give it away again to somebody. I have to take care of them. And of course I missed some of the outfits early on in my career because I didn't think I was going to have a career. (Laughter.) Q. You fooled yourself? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I guess. Q. You, as well as Andy, finished your matches pretty quickly tonight. Is that again down to quicker courts or just one of... ROGER FEDERER: I think it depends on the score. If you play straight sets and you have no sets going to 7‑5, 7‑6, you're most likely going to be under an hour and 20. So I think especially if you win as quickly as Andy does, 6‑0, 6‑2, you can't possibly be longer on the court than hour and 15 unless every game goes to deuce many times and ad and back to deuce. Yeah, I think it's always a big advantage if you don't go three sets early on in the tournament, because otherwise you carry maybe small injury or just some muscle pain or some pain throughout the tournament. So like now being in the quarters and having not wasted much time on the match courts is actually a very good thing going into the quarters tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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