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WIMBLEDONJune 30, 2015Roger FedererLONDON, ENGLAND R. FEDERER/D. Dzumhur THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. How are you finding the grass this year? Is it any different from last year the way it's playing based on your experience so far? ROGER FEDERER: It felt the same in practice, you know, throughout the whole week. Maybe for the start of a tournament, the courts feel rather on the harder side, obviously because of the weather. So there might be a little bit more bounce. It might play a little bit faster maybe, in my opinion. But that's just an assumption. I'm not sure. Q. Do you find that it varies from year to year in general? ROGER FEDERER: No. It changes as the tournament progresses, you know. It's easier to move once you enter, I'd say, third round. Then especially the second week, just because of the used bit in the back, you have more grip, whereas in the beginning of the tournament, you know, it's more softer, it's more slippery where the green patches are. I mean, almost everywhere you have to be more careful the way you move, whereas in the second week you don't really feel that way. Q. You played on Centre Court here quite a few times. Can you in one single word describe what emotion that keeps coming back to you when you walk on the court here? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, it's nerves. It's exciting. But after all, it's a privilege to be there. I was trying to think how many times I've played there now. I don't know. I know it's been often. Still every time it feels like it's a special occasion, for sure. Q. To what degree do you draw satisfaction from having defied anybody who said years ago, He's got this amount of time left, he's close to the end? ROGER FEDERER: Not much, really. Because I play for myself and my team, my fans, my country, you name it, rather than against the people who think and have come out and said things. It's part of the game really. But they don't drive me in any way whatsoever. Q. Staying at homes is what a lot of players do when they come to Wimbledon. If you have in the past, why is that an advantage, especially with a growing family, that feeling at home and playing at Wimbledon? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, I've done it probably now for, I don't know, 13, 14 years now, stay around the village. I used to stay in a bed and breakfast. I used to stay with a family, you know, just in one room. I had a flat, then a house. Last 10 years or so I had probably a house, probably not quite. As the entourage grew and the family grew, we needed bigger. The bigger it is, the more problems you have as well because you need to clean more and you need to do more things, so you need to get organized in a different way. But it's good fun. I think most of the players do it because we don't have to beat traffic every day. Losing one and a half to two hours every day, if you want to stay in the city center, is not something people would want to do for three straight weeks. Maybe a week here or there, no problem, like the way I do it in Istanbul, the way I do it in Shanghai. You don't want to have it too many weeks in a row otherwise it beats you up a bit. I think that's another reason why people enjoy staying in the village around here. Q. Do you have to do any of the cleaning yourself? ROGER FEDERER: Sometimes, of course. It's just part of the grind, you know (smiling). Q. You come onto Centre Court you've played so many times, you get a standing ovation, dominate the match. Do you allow yourself to ever feel sympathy for your opponent or do you stay in a ruthless mode? Are you conscious of that? ROGER FEDERER: I'm aware of it. But I think it's also his first time on Centre Court. I'm sure in some crazy way he's also enjoying himself, can look back and say I played on Centre. It's where you want to play. So I'm more focused on what I'm trying to do, trying to win the match. Back in the day maybe I would not be as ruthless as today. But now it's trying to focus on what I need to do.  The score, it is what it is. I don't think it really matters at the end of the day what the scoreline is. For me, it's about playing the tournament, the ball that's coming from my opponent. I can't mentally go there like that. Can't really play tennis like that, unless it's like your best friend or your brother, whatever it is. I've had that in some instances, but not against Dzumhur, who I barely know, to be honest. Q. Are you concerned at all what happens to the profile of men's tennis after you and Rafa and Novak and Andy stop playing in a few years' time? ROGER FEDERER: I'm not actually. I know it's going to be a bit of a change. Everything has to be somewhat rebuilt to some extent. Players are going to win slams, players are going to be No.1. It's going to be a bit different. It depends when is Rafa going to go out, when I go out, Novak, Andy, what are they going to do in their respective careers. That still might be five, six, eight years. Who knows what it's going to be like. Still a lot of opportunities for other players to win stuff in the meantime, let's be honest. Then after that, you know, the young generation that we all talk about now is going to be in their prime. Then it's going to be new players coming up again. There's always going to be another story, to be quite honest. I'm not that worried. At the same time you need to look ahead on the political side, for the tour, what's best, to make sure that events stay successful. It's something the ATP and also the slams and everybody else has to think about. I'm sure that's being done while we are talking here. Q. There's been a few interesting stories circulating about Novak Djokovic and Boris Becker, claims and stories that they have on‑court coaching when they've been playing matches. Is this something you've noticed playing Novak? Is it more prevalent? What is your opinion on it? ROGER FEDERER: I heard about it, like one quote. I didn't read the media here to be honest. I don't know where we're quite coming from. No, I have not heard or seen anything, to be quite honest, while I was playing. Q. Or any player? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, that has happened before. Q. It has? ROGER FEDERER: What do you think in 1, 500 matches? Of course it has happened. Q. Can you go into more detail for me? ROGER FEDERER: Not really. Ask me questions about the match or something. Q. A question about the color code here. ROGER FEDERER: The color code? Q. You suggested it's quite strict here. What color would you like to use, what style would you like to wear here if you could? ROGER FEDERER: White I'd like to wear here, so it's all good (smiling). It's all I know here. Q. Do you already know what you'd like to do after your career, which areas you'd like to research? ROGER FEDERER: I'd like to drive the kids to school. I'd like to spend time with them, my wife, live in Switzerland. Yeah, then there's many other things I'll be doing, like my foundation. Business, we'll see. Tennis, we'll see. But those two things I know for sure. Q. The Wimbledon experience is sort of a combination of very special moments. You've had so many. Speak about your favorite moments here and how they might compare with each other. ROGER FEDERER: So what moment are you talking about exactly? Q. You've spoken about how wonderful it is to come here when there's a real quiet and a hush. ROGER FEDERER: Right. Do I prefer that? Q. Which moments do you most prefer? ROGER FEDERER: I prefer the moment at match point until I hold the trophy, until I see my team and family. That's the hour I prefer the most out of everything. I do enjoy going to Centre Court. I enjoy coming in here. But we do come here for a purpose, you know. One day it will all be different. I'll be coming as a spectator. But right now, that moment is what we all work hard for, even in the practice. Q. How did you find the conditions out there today with the heat? Did it affect you at all? ROGER FEDERER: No, no. It was not hot. It was totally fine. It was perfect conditions, to be honest. It was nice. No clouds whatsoever. So it was straight on, just perfect playing conditions, to be honest. It was wonderful. Q. It's said to maybe reach 35, 36 through this week.  In terms of the heat rule that the women get, is that something you've thought of, something you'd like to see introduced? ROGER FEDERER: I don't know their rule, to be honest. Almost don't want to know it. I'm just happy the way we have it. Isn't it the discretion of the supervisor or the umpire maybe. Had no problems whatsoever in all these matches, all these years that I've played. In Australia, we've had some moments. But here, in Europe, seriously, on clay, grass, it never comes the problems. We have concrete underneath, on the side of you, the sun beating down, it gets rough. That's why the Australian Open has almost done the rule, I want to say more for the fans I feel like almost, and the officials and the ballboys and the linesmen and spectators rather than us. We can play through these kind of conditions because we're used to it. It's hard when it's 20 degrees throughout, then all of a sudden it spikes to 40. That's hard for us, no doubt. But I think if they make a heat rule, it's almost for everybody around us, as well. Eventually it's not comfortable sitting eight hours in that kind of a heat for everybody, I guess. For us it's just an hour two, three, four max, I'd say. Today was perfect conditions. Q. Five years ago here in the first round you lost the first two sets to Falla. Since then you haven't lost a set in a first‑round match in a major. You haven't even been pushed in most of the sets. Did that match change anything for you? Was that just one tough opponent on one tough day? ROGER FEDERER: I didn't know about that stat. You just focus on what's happening right in the moment. I definitely think it was a better draw today against an opponent that doesn't have that much grass court experience, whereas Falla it's quite different. He likes grass, anticipates well, can take the ball early. I knew from previous meetings with him that it could be tough. Have I changed everything since? No. I thought I was unbelievably fortunate in that match because it could have gone so south and I would have been so disappointed would I have lost that match. I just played him in Paris again. I see why he was so tough for me. He's got a very rounded game. I also played him in the finals of Halle on the grass, I think it was a match of 6‑6. Of course, you try not to have any hiccups early on, but if they do happen, it's important to find a way to win. For me, most important is in the early rounds, try to play in a way that allows me to keep the same level later on in the tournament, if I already feel like I am controlling the match somewhat like today. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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