OLYMPIC TENNIS TOURNAMENT

August 17, 2004

Roger Federer

THE MODERATOR: Question, please.

ROGER FEDERER: Terrible, you know. What can I say? It's a terrible day for me, you know, losing singles and doubles. Obviously I was aiming for a better result than this, but that's what I got. So I have to live with it.

ROGER FEDERER: Many things.

ROGER FEDERER: All of them? Is that okay? I wasn't real happy with my serve, my forehand, my backhand, my movement. So that about sums it up. It's a pity.

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I had my chances, you know, basically up until the end, you know. Match was close. Had the feeling actually in the beginning, you know, serving all right. You know, took my chance there. Then in the second, you know, I started to feel like it was getting really tough to play in the sun, you know. Sun was very low and that was annoying. But he came up with some good shots. You know, he's young. He takes chances on big points. That's usually what happens. You know, he came up with them at the right moment, and that's what made the difference in the end.

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, Toronto, you know, that was very close. I was also two points from the match; same as today. So I could have won both. But, you know, that's how it goes. I've been winning very many close matches which nobody talks about now. But I ended up winning them. You know, I had very little time to get ready, actually, for Cincinnati. I felt it there, I was playing also horrible. You know, Dominik obviously got the rhythm once he saved all those break points. And similar here. I never found the rhythm even though I got here early. That is a bit surprising to me, even though I felt right away that the conditions are quite tough to play in. But I thought it was going to go better in the match, but it didn't unfortunately. I probably would have needed a few more matches to get the confidence up. But too late.

ROGER FEDERER: Well, obviously. I've been playing nonstop, you know. But I had like a week off after Gstaad, you know. So that was very important. And it's obvious it's going to catch up with me, eventually. And so unfortunately it's during the Olympics, but I thought anyhow that the preparation was good. I came here early, had some days off back in Switzerland after Cincinnati. So I thought the preparation was perfect for the Olympics. Unfortunately, didn't work out. But after the US Open, I will have another week off, you know. And after the US Open it will be easier. So I'm looking forward to that.

ROGER FEDERER: Don't have much plans yet, you know. I'm probably going to leave Monday or Tuesday next week and go early to US Open. So I get over the jetlag and have the best preparation that I can have.