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MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAÃº

March 23, 2019

Roger Federer

Miami, Florida

R. FEDERER/R. Albot

4-6, 7-5, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. New venue, new stadium. How did it feel out there? Any different than playing in a regular tennis arena?
ROGER FEDERER: Yes, it did, of course. It's always going to feel very different in a massive place like this. Yeah, it was definitely different, especially very different to Key Biscayne last year.

I'm happy I got it out of the way. I'm happy I was able to find a way tonight. It was a good atmosphere at the end. I thought it was quite electric, how it usually is in Miami. I'm happy that hasn't gone away.

Q. What was going through your mind as the match is not fully in your control for the first half of it? How did you turn things your way?
ROGER FEDERER: How I felt during?

Q. What was the key to turning it in your direction?
ROGER FEDERER: I felt like I was in two minds, how you play sometimes in a first round. You're looking to take on the ball, but then sometimes you also know you just cannot go big all the time. You also have to hold back.

Sometimes you feel like it happens always at the wrong times. You pull the trigger at the wrong times. You're going safe at the wrong times.

That has something to do with how I thought he played his game. He seemed very clear to me, and I wasn't. In the heat of the moment, I started forgetting stuff also that my coach told me. I felt like all the important points, points that could have led to something interesting for me, I played poorly because I was in two minds.

Margins are slim. Then you're down. When you're down, you got to play differently. At the end it's just about finding a way. These are the matches that are so key during the year for any player, is when you're not sometimes playing your best, when you're in search mode, that you find it somehow, you squeeze through, play better than the next round. It's a different opponent, different conditions, different everything. Now you can look back and think maybe having played as much as I did in the first round actually maybe helped me.

I thought actually how I protected my serve, after getting broken in the first game, was actually very good. There's definitely really some good elements there in the game, but I did struggle obviously. I'm very, very happy that I found a way.

Q. What did you know about him before going into the match? How much did you know about him? What were you expecting from him?
ROGER FEDERER: I expected a player with a great attitude, which he showed. Aggressive baseliner, moves well. He's not afraid to come to the net. The problem is I've never practiced with him. I've never really seen him play live matches.

I watched some on a video to get an idea. I see where he can cause problems. The difficulty was, like, I didn't quite know where does he like to go exactly when it really matters the most. That's just so tricky, when you don't exactly know what his favorite shot is, is he going to play differently against you because it's you, because I don't have a double-handed backhand, maybe I have a different type of forehand on the run than others, I don't know. He plays it differently.

Yeah, so I thought it was hard. I was impressed. I have a lot of respect for those types of players who don't have the size, have to find a different way to win. He's a great, great player. I was impressed.

Q. Which players do you look at who you think are like yourself, who you look for how a player will play against you? Is there one that comes to mind?
ROGER FEDERER: I never really go there, to be quite honest, yeah. Of course, one-handed backhands lend itself well for that. But geeze, you know, not really.

Q. How does this new court play visually? It started during the day, went into the night. There are shadows, sun. If you toss the ball, it goes into the stadium. The color of the court is unusual. How does it feel?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, there's definitely always a slight sort of buzz in the stadium. I think it's more because of the size and the ventilation. You feel there's always a bit of a noise there, which is sometimes a bit unusual for tennis. Of course, indoors you get that more often. We do have it occasionally.

I mean, a very key element of our sport is you can hear a pin drop, right? Here it's not so much the case. When somebody hits the ball, it's not as clear maybe, which then can feel almost like it's a little bit of an empty space. That can feel maybe a little bit different.

I didn't feel like it was totally something out of the ordinary where I had no clue where my boundaries were, like I've had maybe at some other courts from around the world in the past. I've gotten used to it quite quickly.

Yeah, the shadows, they didn't bother me. The glare was very short. Other than that, yeah, it's a big place. I mean, the side stands are huge. It goes far away. It's unusual to have it that way. I would have thought maybe they would put it in the corner, the stadium, instead of on the long side. Still it was a good atmosphere. It's steep on the three sides.

Q. Sascha Zverev says he goes on court with his management, and there are some rumors he made maybe is interested in signing him up. Maybe you could comment on that, what are your thoughts?
ROGER FEDERER: I don't comment on that one. I know you're not talking about the tennis court, so I speak about the tennis court stuff. I'm a player and a client. I know you think I'm much more a teammate, whatever. I'm focused on playing. I just hope for him and his mind he can work things out. I cannot comment on anything.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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