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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS WIMBLEDON

July 10, 2017

Roger Federer

Wimbledon, London, England

R. FEDERER/G. Dimitrov

6-4, 6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You faced Grigor, he doesn't serve and volley at all, he hasn't done it all tournament. Does that simplify your mission as a returner? Put you in a comfort zone from the start?
ROGER FEDERER: I mean, possibly. I am a bit surprised he wouldn't even attempt it once, maybe not even at 40-Love, just one time, just to see how it feels. Then, you know, you plant the seed maybe to let your opponent know you might do it, even at 15-40 once because you might feel better at net than from the baseline.

So I think it's quite extreme not to serve and volley ever, especially we are on the grass. The grass is playing on the faster side.

I chose to do it myself personally today, not as much as I could, but a lot. I was rewarded for it.

Q. Looking back to a year ago, despite all the injury problems, the match you played against Cilic really seemed to show you had top-level tennis still in you. Was it important for you to have a match like that going into the layoff to know it's still there?
ROGER FEDERER: I mean, not really. I felt that if I felt, you know, really good, I could play very well. The thing is just for three, four months I never really got up to that level. I thought that match was amazing for me to win under the circumstances because I thought Marin played great. Of course, I got super lucky to get through somehow. I also came up with some great shot-making.

It was a great match overall, and to experience that on Centre Court was a thrill.

It's more regrets maybe having lost the semis after, and then the layover. Maybe I would have been in the finals, could have done well there, too. Who knows. But it was too much for the body. Milos was better.

I don't know. At one point you're only focused on the knee, how it's going to get better, not what was your recent results, how you feel about that. All of a sudden, it moves super far away, and all you hope is that one day you're going to come back and be able to play at a high level again, so...

Q. With all you've done here from your first Championship forward, to what degree has this year's Australian Open, if at all, become the most gratifying of your Championships because of the wait to get there and all you did to win that?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it was one of the most special ones. I definitely put it in the top five at least, if not top three, of my best feelings I ever had after winning, what it meant to me, under the circumstances, like you said, on the comeback, in the finals against Rafa, having had the five-setters throughout the tournaments as well, against Kei, Stan, then also against Rafa.

You know, I had some tough battles against Rafa over the years, but that came totally unexpected I think for both of us to make the finals. Every match after, even with the Berdych match, from the third round on, was like a super bonus.

I really just had a wonderful time in Melbourne. It felt, yeah, I was on this amazing journey. I was happy to bring it all the way home. Maybe what I was most happy about is so many people were happy for me, that I actually was able to experience that feeling one more time to win a Grand Slam.

Q. What are the others in that top three?
ROGER FEDERER: French Open '09, then probably one of the Wimbledons, like the first one here maybe, going for the fifth, going for the all-time Grand Slam record when I beat Roddick in the epic one here, and then US Open when I beating Agassi. Those are the ones floating around (smiling).

Q. How do you feel at the moment? Do you feel in form, how strong you feel, how good your game is? Do you feel in a position that you can win Wimbledon? Do you also feel that your form is as good as it's ever been?
ROGER FEDERER: That is always a hard one to answer just because it's always very dependent on who you play. If you play a baseliner, and you rush him off the court from the baseline, usually then you feel your very best. But to beat a big server is a different kind of match. It's more of a penalty shootout. That's what's going to come my way with Raonic or Zverev. From that standpoint, that's what I'm looking at right now.

I feel like I'm rested enough. I've had, you know, not the most toughest matches. I can look at this quarterfinal in a totally relaxed fashion. Physically I'm not fighting anything like last year with my knee. I'm ready to go this afternoon if I have to, which is great, but I don't have to. I think that's a great bonus.

Then again, the best players are left in the draw. It's going to be a tough one. I'm aware of that. That's why I can't think too far ahead. I think it's going to be a tough finish to this tournament.

Q. You finished today's match cleanly, quickly. Right now Nadal is 8-All in the fifth set. Raonic-Zverev 4-1 in the fifth. How much do you pay attention to those matches? How much will you after this session?
ROGER FEDERER: I prefer to do the press rather than watch tennis right now (smiling). No, no, I would rather be there and watch it, but I have to do what I have to do. I hope it's going to say two minutes left here on this screen (laughter).

No, I like good matches for the crowd. Personally I get very excited just watching it, when Muller has match points, to see what Rafa is going to come up with, what is Raonic going to do at the end of the fourth, is he able to push it to the fifth. I think that's super exciting. Plus if you have it over multiple courts at the same time, you almost don't know where to watch any more. Before my match, I was switching around between all the different matches trying to catch as much as I possibly could.

I'm a huge tennis fan personally myself. So this is great for tennis. Mondays here at Wimbledon are very special. So we're getting to see that.

Q. Will you watch these matches at all from a strategic standpoint?
ROGER FEDERER: The Rafa match, it's not going to give me very much because there's two lefties playing against each other. It's just a whole different ballgame.

The Zverev-Raonic match, I haven't seen anything at all. I think that's more the coaches who are watching that probably right now. Maybe they'll show me some highlights because they think it's important.

But I can lean back on the Zverev match in Halle. I can lean back on the match from last year that I played Milos here, and even once before in the semis here.

I feel like I have enough information going into the quarters tomorrow or on Wednesday.

Q. You spoke about the two possible opponents for you. Separately, describe specifically with Milos and with Zverev what you think the keys to the match would be.
ROGER FEDERER: I think it's pretty much the same. I got to bring the intensity, the focus that I've shown throughout this tournament, the mentality on the serve, first and second serve. Very few wrong decision making. Understanding what to do at what stage.

Then on the return, keep going for it, keep staying aggressive. Positive attitude. I do believe good things can happen. I think because as they're both big servers and big hitters, it's pretty much the same against either one of them.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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