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ROLAND GARROS

May 29, 2019

Roger Federer

Paris, France

R. FEDERER/O. Otte

6-4, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. First of all, congratulations for your second-round match win in this tournament. I want to talk about your first-round matches in Grand Slams. You haven't lost one of them since 2003. 16 years ago you lost here Horna. I want to know what memories you have of that match? What do you think is your key to succeed in these big tournaments?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, look, it's interesting. Because it left a lasting impact on me, that loss actually against Horna, because I came into the tournament maybe No. 6 in the world, and I thought I had a good season, you know, until the French Open, and then felt like maybe I could win the French Open, you know, like any top 10 or top 6 guys would think.

I don't want to say I underestimated him because I knew him from the juniors and I knew he was a good clay-courter, but after losing the first set it was, like, looking at a massive mountain to climb. All of a sudden I realized it was such a long way back in this match. And instead of having that point-for-point mentality, all I saw was an impossible task and it suffocated me in that moment, and I tried, I fought, I think I lost second set maybe in a breaker or the third, I don't remember.

But I had maybe some minor chances, but never really believed I could actually come back in the match. And if I did, I knew I was not going to win the French Open, because I felt like my game wasn't there.

For some reason, even though now I would look at it totally different and maybe it was just a bad first set, maybe it was just a moment in time. And the second round will be much easier, different opponent. Things would have worked out. Who knows? Good thing about it is that I learned from it, and moved on to Wimbledon with loads of pressure and was able to handle it there, because I think I also lost here in 2002 first round against Arazi on the old Court 2.

Yeah, I had my fair share of tough losses early on in my career in slams. So I'm happy it never happened again and that I have been consistent, you know, throughout since.

Q. Before people speak to you about today's match, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but some people are saying that the Polo shorts you are wearing this year, especially the brown one that you wore in the first round, remind them of a uniform that delivery drivers use for the international courier services.
ROGER FEDERER: Okay.

Q. I was wondering, firstly, what your thoughts are on the design, and secondly, have you ever been a brand ambassador for an international courier, because when you are on the courts, you always deliver?
ROGER FEDERER: Nicely said. (Laughter.)

I can tell you they were not the inspiration for this outfit, and it was more trying to go back in time a little bit to the '70s, you know, and haven't worn brown ever and cream.

And I thought it would be a nice look, Uniqlo thought the same. When we saw it, we all liked it. I like it.

I know these kind of colors always stir a debate. You could always go safe and do blue with stripes in Paris and say, like, Okay, French people like blue and white and stripes. It's always going to work, you know.

But we did it many times before in the past, and, yeah, so we thought brown would be the way to go. Old-school stripes. Maybe more vintage looking. I haven't gone back a whole lot in my career, you know, back to the '70s and '80s, to be honest, to look for inspiration.

But I like it. I feel comfortable in it. Thanks for the question.

Q. The next match will be against Casper Ruud, the 20-year-old. What do you know about that Norwegian? He says it's a dream playing against you. How do you think it will be being a 20-year-old playing you?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, look, it's exciting for me too. I know probably more about his dad than about him. Even though I never played him, the father.

I know that he's improved a lot, you know, in recent years, and I think he plays very well on the clay. Again, I haven't seen him play a whole lot. But for any 20-year-old to be on the big stage, playing a top guy, on a center court, that's what you dream of, at least I did. When you're growing up and thinking to be a professional tennis player, it's not so much about actually playing a certain player, it's about playing on a certain court. He's going to get that either Lenglen or Chatrier for the next match.

I don't know who he looks up to, you know, but for me it was special playing Sampras when I was 20. I played Pete at Wimbledon. Yeah, I mean, you have to take it all in, you know, enjoy the moment. But you have to believe that you have a chance. If you get to a third round of a slam, it's not by luck, you had to play some good matches.

Today, by the score line against Berrettini, seems like he did his work, and he deserves to be in the third round. I will take him very seriously.

Q. His dad played in your first-ever French Open, first-ever slam. How does that make you feel? Presumably quite old, I'd imagine?
ROGER FEDERER: No different. I knew he was in the draw back then. But I never played against him. I think Ivan, my coach, played against him.

I mean, I know the guys I played before. It was different times back then. I'm happy, basically when I hear that it makes me happy that I actually had a chance to play that generation of players, because they are still very different to the guys that are playing the ball nowadays.

Q. Today you took three of the four opportunities to break. I suppose that was...
ROGER FEDERER: That was the plan (smiling). No, it wasn't.

Q. And I suppose that was to rationalize your energy?
ROGER FEDERER: No, I mean, look, it really always depends also how sometimes the match-ups are or how many opportunities do you get? How do they play on them?

The thing, when you play against somebody like Otte who I have never seen play before really, except on some videos, you don't exactly know his patterns, even though you're told, you know, he maybe prefers this over that. But then that doesn't mean a thing in important moments. So sometimes it just works out, you win that point, you know, on the break point or he helps you out and he second-guesses himself or tries too hard or you play a good point in that very moment.

I think that's what happened a little bit. I was able to build pressure, I was able to create 15-40 leads quite a few times to break. It wasn't just a 30-40 lead where it feels like he can get out of it quickly. You have to work for it at 15-40.

I think for a lower-ranked guy against a top guy on a big court, you're looking all of a sudden at like, Oh, this is not going to work out. That's all you need as a top guy. I think I was just able to keep the pressure on by holding my serves and then with my variety and experience, I guess today it worked well on the big points.

But that's always the goal is trying to do the right things when it's important. But you can't always control that.

Q. You have already had a couple of three-set matches at Philippe Chatrier. Did you feel or believe that you're already getting that positive feeling, that positive game at Roland Garros after a four-year absence?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, look, I must say I feel really good, you know, considering I haven't played here in that long. Especially if I think back a few weeks and months ago before Madrid, didn't know how successful I was going to play or how I was going to feel on the clay.

Honestly I was, you know, looking at a worst-case scenario, losing first round in Madrid and then somehow having a tough draw here as well and not getting past the first-round hurdle, and now I am talking about having won enough matches in Madrid and Rome, winning my first matches here in straight sets.

All of a sudden, you feel, you know, the clay court season has been, it's been busy, you know, and it's nice this way. So I hope I can keep it up. Next round is definitely going to be tougher, I believe, you know. I'm very happy. We'll see how far it's going to take me. So far, so good.

Q. About an hour or so go, Lucie Safarova announced her retirement, and she said an interesting thing, that the most important decisions in her career were coaching decisions. You have had a relatively stable coaching situation over your career, but you have also had to make some really tough decisions in that domain. When you did that, what were the criteria? What were the factors? How critical was that in your career?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, I totally understand where Lucie is coming from. By the way, congratulations on an amazing career, very happy for her, she can do it on her terms. I always enjoyed watching her play.

You know, I think the coaches have a major impact on your game and I think especially early on on your technique, and then maybe towards the end of your teenage years on your personality, as well. So I think I have gotten fortunate that I always felt like I had the right coaches around me naturally through the local club or through the Federation.

And then later on when you can pick your coach, as you're paying the salary, changes everything, you know, becomes a bit weird in the beginning, and you have to understand you're paying for advice; yet they criticize you and you're okay with that. I don't know. It's just very, very strange for a young guy to go through that, and that's where you have to have the right sort of personality and feeling with your coaching staff.

It's hard to stay with, I guess, with the same coach throughout your career, I believe. I admire the ones who do it, you know, because, you know, if you had five careers, you know, you could do with five different coaches; but if you have one you're always seeking to improve and maybe hear new things. Maybe it's the same thing that the new coach says but it's in a different way and you just believe in it more, who knows?

But I really always allowed the coaches to express themselves and really be critical of me, you know, and come in so they could feel they would have an impact. Because obviously when you're top guy, No. 1 in the world for as long as I have been or, you know, former Grand Slam champion, some coaches come in, Well, what's going to be the impact? Because you have your life, everything sort of set up already. But I always felt like I made room for them to express themselves. I think that's key if you're hiring somebody, is you want that person to be critical of you and make you feel uncomfortable.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. You have a great memory. Do you remember playing against a player you had never played before in a Grand Slam?
ROGER FEDERER: It might have happened to me but it's quite rare, because with the years I have spent on the tour, normally I know the players, but it shows that there are new players coming in, and it's gradually changing.

Up to now it hasn't affected me and I'm happy about that. They haven't put me out of the tour, so I'm holding down the fort.

Q. Over the last three days, I have been seeing you. You're relaxed, you joke. You're very happy. So I'm wondering how in the past years you were living this Roland Garros tournament from afar? Were you watching the matches? Were you in your own planning schedule?
ROGER FEDERER: I almost watched no matches, because I was doing something else. Either I was training or I was with the kids or meeting with friends.

So being at home with four children running around, staying in front of the TV for two hours, you can just imagine the scenario.

It really has to be "the" match that interests you if you're just watching for the sake of watching.

Well, if you're watching a match, you want to hope for someone to win, but since I was not part of the tournament, I didn't really care about who would win. I had decided not to play, so I was comfortable in not being in the draw. I was happy for the other players. And I was on another adventure, if you want.

So honestly, I was watching last year, Cecchinato, Djokovic, three games, and that's it because it happened that I had 10 minutes. I heard that Djoko was in difficulty, and I said, I gonna see the end of the match. And that's it. Otherwise I don't remember who did what in the last three years.

I know that there was Rafa and the rest I don't remember (smiling).

Q. I saw you coming through the crowd between the players room and the interview room. It was amazing. It's rare in Grand Slam, especially in Roland Garros. Are you afraid or happy with that? I know in Rome you were in a small car. People were trying to touch you. It was incredible.
ROGER FEDERER: It's particular. It makes me happy because I see that people are crazy about tennis. They have a lot of desire to see me play, maybe to see me win, to see me several times more.

So it gives me a lot of energy, and I don't know if I can, but I tried to push further to try and stay in the tournament to give my maximum. I can't give more than 100%, but that's what I will give, and everything I can to on the court.

And when you have that atmosphere, and also outside of the courts and you feel that people are excited to see you, to follow you, and you feel it at the end, they chant your name, and it was not a five-set match. It was a match against Otte, 144 in the world. And so they think that he's going to win, and they chant your name and it's very rare. Indeed, it happens almost never.

I know it's a very particular period I'm going through here at Roland Garros, and I'm enjoying it. But I remain focused for the rest of the tournament.

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