TENNIS MASTERS CUP- HOUSTON

November 21, 2004

Roger Federer

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English for Roger, please.

ROGER FEDERER: Thank you.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it's nice to be on the board, you know, with many other great players. All the records, you know, I broke or equaled or whatever I did, you know, this year, has just been fantastic. Also throughout last year already. Like Lleyton said, the last one-and-a-half years for me I have really started to go like a rocket. This is a great end. You know, only a few guys have won two Masters Cups in a row - Lleyton and Lendl and you name it, I don't know. So it's just a few of them, it's nice (smiling).

ROGER FEDERER: No, I won't. Like you said, you know, this has been an incredible season for me, a great end to a fantastic season. It's kind of a fairy-tale ending, you know, for me to again leave for vacation with great feelings, great memories. So for next year, it won't be my first priority. My priority is to defend my Wimbledon crown and to maintain my No. 1 ranking. That's what I'm aiming for.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it's my third car I've won, and I won a Harley Davidson (laughing). I sold the one car and I still got the other -- well, now this one I haven't got yet in my garage. But it's getting -- there's a problem. I have no more space, so (laughing)... So I have to figure out what I'm going to do with it. But I'm definitely very happy because I love cars, I love convertibles, and I love fast cars, so this is great.

ROGER FEDERER: Everything, yeah, basically. Because early in my career, you know, I was struggling with consistency. I mean, I couldn't get more consistent than this year, you know. For me, this is incredible. I in the beginning of my career I was struggling with outdoor, you know, being able to play in the wind, the night session, those things. Now I got over that, you know. I was struggling on the clay, I lost my first 10 or 15 matches on clay on the pro tour. There also I have won many great tournaments now. So I've really proven it's been all surfaces, everywhere in the world, you know, that I can win the title. I think that makes it very special, this whole year, because the season I've had, and I've basically won on all continents. It's just been incredible for me from beginning to the end.

ROGER FEDERER: Excuse me?

ROGER FEDERER: Uh-hmm.

ROGER FEDERER: Okay (laughing).

ROGER FEDERER: That's fine, yeah (smiling).

ROGER FEDERER: There has been, you know, disappointments. Like the Olympic Games, of course, you know. Because at the beginning of the year, that was one of my major three goals of the season, you know, to do well there and to get a medal because I just missed out on it the year -- or four years before in Sydney. The other disappointment was to lose against France in Davis Cup at home for the first time being at home as the No. 1 in the world. That was tough as well. You know, the other losses were acceptable, you know. Against Nadal. There's only a few, I can quickly run through them, so that's nice. Like Nadal, and he played fantastic and I was still sick. Henman played fantastic as well in Rotterdam. Berdych surprised me maybe a little bit at the Olympics. You know, Guga at the French, he was just a better player, as simple as that. Where else did I lose? Hrbaty in Cincinnati, yeah, not so easy. I should have won that match but lost it. So I had, yeah, a fantastic season so... I've never run through so many losses so quickly.

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I kind of quite like, you know, to wait for the match to be played. The problem is when you're waiting once the match started, like today at 5-2, 40-30, you really hope to get off to a good start again early in the match. But to wait until the match starts is not really a problem for me because you find enough stuff to do during that time. You actually have even more time than expected, you know, to prepare. You just have to make sure that you're in, suddenly the court's dry and you have to walk on. For this reason, I don't have any problem with that. But of course it's never easy for the rhythm once it gets interrupted.

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I definitely have my preferences. I love hitting my forehand anywhere on the court. I like hitting actually slice, because these are the safe shots in my game. The other ones are good, too, you know, but these are the ones I feel most comfortable with.

ROGER FEDERER: I guess it just happens. Early in the rounds, early in the tournament, I don't really chase down the lines too much because I want to play it more safe, I want to get the feel for the court and the balls and sometimes, you know, you get surprised and you lose. But this hardly happened this year - only once. And once a tournament or the matches get underway, I start to feel better, and then I start also going much more for the corners. That's exactly again what happened this week.

ROGER FEDERER: I was very surprised how big it was. I knew it was big, but I didn't think it was that big. I had a great experience there. It was my first Masters Cup, in Shanghai. I had a great time. Even though I lost in semis against Lleyton, you know, we had a terrific match. And I'm really looking forward to go back there. But you're not qualified, you don't have a wildcard after winning this one today, unfortunately. So I have to do everything again next year to try to get there. At least, you know, I got three chances, so that's good to know. I think it's great, you know, that Asia gets a big tournament again because they have tournaments, but only rather small ones, I would say. I think Asia also deserves a big one. So for this reason, I'm very happy Shanghai has got it again. Yeah, the city is fantastic, the people are nice, so hopefully I can make it there.

ROGER FEDERER: It's nice, you know, because I was down, like you said, by four matches or something. So to come back on that within one season is fantastic. I've had many tough losses against him, you know, in Davis Cup, in Shanghai, and other places also which were very important to me and I lost them. He's the player I think I played the most in my career. We've had great rivalries together, great matches, you know, because it's a great matchup, you know. Playing very aggressive, he's a counterpuncher, so there's always a lot happening during the match. This season, you know, in the last two matches I've been quite -- or the last three matches have been quite one-sided. I'm surprised myself because he's a great player, and I expect, you know, him to be even tougher next year.

ROGER FEDERER: Well, because for me, still Wimbledon is the most prestigious tournament, and what I've experienced this year by becoming No. 1 in the world, these are for me the top priorities. Of course French Open is important, but not as important as the other two. You know, I don't want to start going around saying that if I don't win the French within my career or next year, I'll be very disappointed. So I really want to take it slow also, because the preparation has been good the last couple of years for the French. Why it didn't work out, I don't want to say it's a mystery, but it's got something to do with my opponents, the way I played. I hope I play better, because I want to prove myself more in Paris. Same in Bercy, I haven't had any great matches there, so... Definitely want to play better in Paris.