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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 25, 2016

Roger Federer

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

R. FEDERER/D. Goffin

6-2, 6-1, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You obviously came for a quick match considering the late start.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, what do you want to hear?

Q. Thoughts on the match.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it was good. Surprised it went as fast as it did. You know, to win the first two sets within 50 minutes is the best thing that can happen out there, especially with a late start and against a quality player. So I was very happy.

It was important to keep the momentum going, keep staying aggressive and, you know, trying to get the match done in three. I was able to do that. I was very pleased.

There were some great moments in the match which I can take a lot away from. I was happy to, which after the Dimitrov match, which wasn't so straightforward, wasn't so easy, I was able to find an extra gear, I guess.

Q. Did you watch any of the Novak and Simon match? What were your thoughts on it?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I thought it was interesting, you know, just in the sense that there's a lot of ups and downs, a lot of breakpoints missed, a lot of, I don't know, shifts of momentum. But they both had their chances in the first four sets. I didn't see the fifth set. Could have sort of gone either way all the way.

I thought it was a good match to watch in terms of entertainment value, for sure.

Q. We haven't seen Novak play like this in a very long time.
ROGER FEDERER: In like what sense?

Q. Hitting a hundred unforced errors.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah. How much did you see Gilles Simon play? I'm just wondering, because I think people miss the point of him. He plays every match, like, that. He makes you miss. He makes you go for the lines and he runs down a lot of balls. A lot of points end in errors, if you like.

This was five sets. So, of course, there's going to be a lot of unforced errors piling up. The question is if you have 50, 100, at the end of the day it doesn't matter as long as you win.

People just kind of talk maybe -- it's my assumption, I'm not surprised you're asking me. I just feel people talking like he had a horrible day. Of course he can play better, but on the other side, you have somebody who has the fastest legs and he knows exactly what he's doing out there, and it worked almost to the very end. So it was very close for Novak, and he knows that.

Q. It's your 12th Australian Open quarter against Tomas Berdych. What do you have to do to beat him this time?
ROGER FEDERER: I have to play well. I think the court suits him. I think this sort of flatter bounce and faster court is good for his serves, good for his returns. It's a fast court. I think for his kind of game it's good.

I think I matched up well against him as of late. Then again, we haven't played that much. He played very well here last year in exactly these conditions. I was very impressed how he played against Nick. Today I didn't see that much against Bautista Agut. It was about switching to a different court, day session, beating a different kind of player, beating him in five sets, which gives him, I'm sure, a lot of confidence, as well, even though maybe the scoreline doesn't suggest that.

I would assume he's exactly where he wants to be and he'll recover and make it a tough match for me, no doubt about it.

It's going to be a good match. We're both going to play aggressive. This court pays off when you do play good and aggressive tennis.

Q. You talked about bringing the kids out on tour and wanting, especially the girls, to remember you playing. Do you want any more from them as far as learning from your tennis, if there are teachable moments that you try to apply in your life to them?
ROGER FEDERER: In terms of tennis now or just in life?

Q. Tennis that translates to life.
ROGER FEDERER: Give me an example. I just want to be on the right track.

Q. Dad is working hard, that sort of thing.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah (smiling).

I mean, I have had those conversations with them, you know, that hard work brings you somewhere. I told them the other day they can be anything they would want to be as long as they work hard at it. It's not going to happen when you wake up one morning and you're going to be great at that (snapping fingers). It's going to take some time. I think they need to know whatever they choose, they have to work hard at it.

Yes, I guess I have told them about that. I told them after all these years I still go out and train, trying to improve. So I think it starts to make sense to them more and more now. Of course, they realize it as well, especially in sports, or in school, reading and writing and all that stuff, it's all coming along. So I think they see the benefit of hanging around with the same theme or subject for a while.

Q. Is the reverse of that ever true? Do your daughters ever say to you, Dad, do this or do that? Why do you do that? Do they ever talk about tennis to you in any way?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, the one thing in tennis they tell me is I should -- once they told me I should play on the lines. They think that's a good thing. I was like, Okay, I'll try that. The other one said that maybe you should look that way and play the other way. I said, Okay, I'll try that, too. It's not as easy as you think it is, but I'll try.

That was actually quite funny. When they came to practice the other day, they asked me to do the trick. I was like, Which one? The one where you look the one way and play the other way. So they have given me advice, if you like, yeah. They're good coaches, yeah (laughter).

Q. How much did it mean to you having Rod Laver in the crowd?
ROGER FEDERER: Just a pleasure seeing legends around, to be quite honest. The Rocket is somebody very special in the game of tennis, to me anyways. You know, plus the building's named after him. Deserves it clearly. Seeing him in person, showing up, coming to say hello to me, seeing him in Brisbane.

I saw him a couple times before the matches in Brisbane. After the Brisbane finals, he came to see me in the locker room. He wanted to chat about the finals quickly, see how I was doing. Wished me well for recovery, for the Aussie Open, that we're going to see each other again here. Too nice of a guy. Almost beyond.

Here again he came before the match to wish me well. Clearly it's motivating, to say the least.

Q. With the girls, and the boys, too, do you feel there's anything they're missing in a stable at-home environment? You get to take them out on the road and they get to see the world, but is there a flipside to that?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it would be great to have the same bed for three months in a row, which would help with sleeping rhythm or whatever it is. But we're used to this life. It's the only thing they know and I know really for the last 20 years, if you like.

So it's okay. But, of course, there is benefits of being in one place, or for us now only being in Switzerland would be beautiful. We could go much more in the countryside, catch up with where you put them in a proper school and all that.

Then again, we have tons of friends and family that come join us on the road. Honestly, they're not just all by themselves and all that stuff. They're kept very busy. They have a ton of friends on the road, which I think is really important for them.

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