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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 22, 2020

Roger Federer

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

R. FEDERER/F. Krajinovic

6-1, 6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You had two very comfortable wins. Do you ever worry about being undercooked?
ROGER FEDERER: No, not really. Not any more. I prefer this much more than overcooked.

As easy as it looks, there's always the effort, trying to extend the lead. Of course, it's not quite the same stress level if you're down a set or a break or two sets, whatever it may be.

I prefer it this way because you have always extra left in the tank if you need it.

Q. You said before the tournament you had kind of low expectations. Do you think maybe you're feeling pretty relaxed and could that help you?
ROGER FEDERER: Maybe little bit down the stretch. But first I've got to get there. I also think maybe for me the first two rounds ended up playing out good, with Steve Johnson playing a similar game to me, but having less options I guess at the end of the day. Then also Krajinovic today also was a bit tired.

Also when I do play well against him, I can control things pretty well. I feel if I play tactically well, and I'm very strict on how I need to play, this can happen.

I think the next match is really going to be a test for me because John is going to be there. He's fit like a fiddle. I've lost to him in the past in a best-of-five set match. I almost lost to him in Brisbane, as well, the first time I played against him.

He's from this country, so naturally also it's going to be different intensity. I think this is going to be a good test for me.

Q. In New York, we're not going to get that on Friday from an Australian perspective, the weather conditions, but was that one of the worst feelings physically you've had after a match?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, definitely. I don't know anything remotely close. I was just happy it was over. I never had that. I rather go back in time, If I could play that match again...

But I don't have that feeling about that match. I was just happy the US Open was over and I could focus on other things, recover, all that.

I think it was a combination of many things that went wrong for me on that day, plus the opponent was ready and tough as nails.

Look, I have no regrets. In some ways I tried to prepare as good as I could for the US Open there. I tried everything in the match itself, as well. It was just not meant to be that day. I hit the wall. I tried to figure it out as long as I could. I still had my chances, so it was a tough loss.

At the end of the day, it was one I forgot fairly quickly.

Q. John said he wanted to put in a request to play on another court other than Laver because you might have the majority of the crowd on your side if you played there. Would you be up for a change of atmosphere? Do you relish playing the hometown hero on his turf?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, look, I'm always happy when the crowd gets involved. Look, I don't choose which court I play on. I don't know if he was joking or if he was serious. You would think a match like this should be played at Rod Laver Arena maybe. I don't know who else, if the other seed has good matchups, as well.

No, but I think possibly. He knows Margaret Court Arena better, Melbourne Arena. But I haven't thought of it. I figure this was always going to be on Rod Laver Arena, if this happens. I'm ready to go anywhere, whatever it takes.

Q. You had 42 winners compared to Monday when you popped 30.
ROGER FEDERER: Compared to which match?

Q. On Monday, you had I think 30. Your unforced errors really went down. Are you feeling the ball better? Just numbers?
ROGER FEDERER: I don't know if I played better today than I did in my first match. It was very different tactically, to be honest. I think Filip has his game much more based on his backhand and Steve with his forehand. It's like reverse in these two matches.

Like John said on the court, as well, he served a very high first-serve percentage. In some ways you can't control exactly how the points are being played out. Of course, if somebody else serves and volleys a little bit, there's always a tendency for more winners.

I mean, like I said also, these conditions here, especially in the night or under the roof where I've played twice now, you can start seeing the ball extremely clear as there's no wind, no shade and sun.

It does feel sometimes like a bit of a clay court where you can maneuver your opponent around until he's not there any more, and you can just -- I don't want to say you can hit it in the open court, but it's easier to construct the point and end up with a winner.

Whereas if it's faster, you have to hit it on the back foot sometimes. You hit it late and you hope it stays in. This is why you see us either having a lot of unforced errors or a lot of winners.

Then, of course, statistics don't always mean everything, as well, as we saw with his first-serve percentage. You would think you couldn't be broken that often. Like I said on court, as well, I think conditions played on the faster side when the balls are new, then it gets extremely slow once they fluff up.

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