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BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS

November 21, 2015

Roger Federer

London, England, United Kingdom

R. FEDERER/S. Wawrinka

7-5, 6-3

An interview with:

ROGER FEDERER

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How pleased are you that you get to play this year's final after what happened last year?
ROGER FEDERER: We're not one minute away, but feeling good. Feeling slightly better than last year. Yeah, the press conference wasn't the fun part, I could tell you that, because I knew I was not in good shape. This year obviously it's very different. I feel completely normal. It's a big relief for me.

Happy of how the week's gone so far. Yeah, so it's a good feeling this time around.

Q. Which is the difference between your backhand today and your backhand seven, eight years ago? I have the feeling in the past you played more in open stance, today more in closed stance. Is it difficult when you play high trajectory from a left-handed forehand?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I think definitely I've got a more powerful backhand overall. I think I can generate more power. I've always been feeling comfortable to hit passing shots off the backhand. But I definitely used the slice more with my old racquet, eight years ago. Especially on the return now, because the racquet head size is bigger, I feel like it's easier for me to come over the backhand like I did against Stan today.

Of course, you have better and worse days. The backhand has always been an interesting shot for me. It was my weakness coming onto the tour. All the players played against it. It improved over time. It's important for me to manage when to slice, when to come over it at the right time.

Today it worked well. One more match tomorrow. It would be nice if my backhand was there, as well. Then we'll see how it goes. I'll work on it on the off-season again.

Q. The head-to-head between you and Novak is very slim. Having played him earlier in the week, do you think that will have any bearing going into the final tomorrow, or it doesn't really matter?
ROGER FEDERER: I mean, it matters because we can both look back on it and see what we could have done differently, for the good or the bad. That's interesting for both of us. Even though it does also happen that you play each other in one place one week, then another place seven days later in a finals, I'm sure we've done that as well. This is different. It's the same conditions, same court, same place.

For me it's an advantage because I guess it gives me a bit of confidence. For him it's an advantage because he gets a second chance, and he's in another final. He's played some great tennis since we've played.

So, yeah, I still believe his confidence is slightly higher than mine with the amount of success he's had this year.

Q. Where at the end of another tennis year almost. You're playing as well as ever. Have you thought about what your limit is? How do you feel about doing a Jimmy Connors and playing till your 40s? Have you thought about that kind of thing?
ROGER FEDERER: Not really. But if you manage your schedule, you can do that, play five tournaments a year, keep your ranking up, that's what you want to do.

No, I haven't set myself any goals like that. Just happy things are working out well right now, that my team is as strong as it is behind me who make it possible for me to step out on court with a good mindset, that I enjoy myself, that my family is willing to travel with me, that we love it on the tour. It's not all that normal because a lot of work goes into that.

We'll see how much longer we can make it happen. But just really pleased that it's been another great year for me. Looking forward to next year, of course. It's just around the corner. I'm excited about that, as well.

Q. You have a unique style of play. Do you see anyone carrying forward your legacy and style?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, there will always be a future good player, a future nice player to watch with my kind of attitude. But I hope that nobody tries to copy me because I think copying is bad, like they shouldn't copy any other player.

I believe you should find your own style and be natural, be yourself. Don't try to pretend you're somebody else. It served me well anyways.

I'll definitely follow tennis when I'm long gone because I think it's a great game, great personalities come out of it. The TV and everything, they follow every step you make on the court. There's no hiding out there. I feel like you get a good sense of how the people are on and off the court because you have to do a lot of media. I think tennis will always be fine, in my opinion.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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