US OPEN

August 27, 2003

Roger Federer

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Roger.

ROGER FEDERER: I don't know if it was before or after I broke back. I think it was after. You know, even though I lost the first set, I thought I was serving pretty good. Just missed a few shots, you know. That one game I got broken. I had my chances myself. It was a pity I lost that first set. But he was serving well. He was playing tough, so...

ROGER FEDERER: What worried me was the second set, that first game. Served a couple of double-faults. Just a little unpatient (sic). Luckily for me, I bounced back. Have to see this doesn't happen in the future.

ROGER FEDERER: No. I really felt good today physically. In Paris it was more a mental thing. Today was no problem. Never thought about that.

ROGER FEDERER: Once you walk on the court, doesn't change much. Maybe a little bit more confidence. You have the No. 2 seed next to your name. Doesn't really matter in the end. I'm not looking at this whole thing very different than I used to.

ROGER FEDERER: Didn't see much of it, no.

ROGER FEDERER: Depends how long you stay in. First of all, you got to win your matches before you can look this way. So for me it's just one match at a time, like for everybody else. You know, I saw a potential there. I was very happy the way I was serving, even though it was very windy. I think it's always more difficult if it's windy like this. That's going to help me for the next few games. I'm not concerned about it when my game is right.

ROGER FEDERER: Again, doesn't matter. I've been here since Saturday. If I would have come from Long Island or some other tournament, I would have been happy to play Wednesday. I was ready to play Monday. If I play Wednesday, I just had more time to play better, more time to prepare.

ROGER FEDERER: I said I'm not looking at it differently.

ROGER FEDERER: You're always scared, because it was not very hot today. There was always a breeze, at least for us players. I didn't want to risk any injury. I started serving a few and moving around. Play some soccer, as well (smiling).

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I thought he was playing very loose at the end of the third, the one game at 5-3 when I broke him for the second time. I saw that he was just not interested. I didn't think about an injury. Then when he took the injury time-out after, we all saw that something was wrong with him.

ROGER FEDERER: There's not much to change. I was already winning. For me it was just to see how much pain he had. Played maybe first few points looking more at your opponent than concentrating on your own game. Didn't last long.

ROGER FEDERER: 11 days.

ROGER FEDERER: I had four days off after Cincinnati, started practicing again on Wednesday.

ROGER FEDERER: And people retiring also at the same time. You know, eventually always somebody will retire. These are big names retiring right now. It's been talking a long time now, the change of the guard. I always thought we were a good group of guys, the youngsters. We've proved it now. We've won Grand Slams. But still, you know, Agassi is around, other experienced players. I think it's a good mix right now.