WESTERN AND SOUTHERN FINANCIAL GROUP MASTERS

August 13, 2003

Roger Federer

MODERATOR: Questions.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, guess so. You look at the statistics, I haven't beaten him in the seniors. I've beaten him in junior one time. Yeah, but he's tough for me, so...

ROGER FEDERER: I will beat him if I know.

ROGER FEDERER: Actually, that was not the factor today really. I felt good until the end, you know. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to come back 5-2. But, no, condition-wise, no problem for me today. Also the heat was not a problem.

ROGER FEDERER: Because I didn't play well. It's quite simple, you know. I'm not happy with my game from yesterday, I'm not happy with my game today. And, yeah, couldn't get through today, so... I thought he played well, you know. I was just missing too much, you know. But that can happen. Isn't a drama.

ROGER FEDERER: Well, his style is tough for me. The conditions have changed, you know. But he also arrived late, you know, so that shouldn't be excuse.

ROGER FEDERER: Excuse me? No, he arrived late, too, from Montreal - even later than me, so that shouldn't be an excuse. Some guys maybe take longer or some guys take it differently, so... But, no, he's tough for me, so...

ROGER FEDERER: I was too much occupied with the matchup, you know. I knew it's gonna be tough. We've always had actually tough matches; he came through every time - 6-4 in the fifth at the Australian Open, I was up a set then a break in Basel and I lost in three. Then now here 6 and 6. We've always had tough matches, but he came through. And I was not thinking about the No. 1 spot because for those who were here in the first press conference, you know, the road is too long to the semifinals.

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I said in Montreal, my goal is not to be No. 1 this week, next week or after the US Open, you know. I'm just gonna try to be No. 1 one time, you know. You guys making calculations, wrong calculations, so this is why I don't care what you guys calculate all about, you know. I'm just gonna try to win as many matches and hopefully win tournaments, you know, and then become No. 1. But I'm not gonna push it.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, he's got kind of a loop backhand, flat forehand. He returns really well, you know, especially on second serves. So I've always said every time I play him I think it's weird, you know. He's got these unbelievable runs of 10 minutes or 15 minutes where you have the feeling you can do nothing about it, then suddenly he's got a terrible five minutes again and you're back to even, you know. So somehow I don't get clever out of this match, matches against him, so... But, you know, as long as it's not 2 and 1, I'm all right. I know I'm not far away.

ROGER FEDERER: Well, again, you know, I was just trying to hang in there and making him play. Maybe he gets a little uptight when he's ahead, you know. Because I have really the feeling he's playing much better when he's down. So I wasn't surprised I came back, you know.

ROGER FEDERER: No tournaments.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah. I think I'm gonna stay here for a few more days and then go into New York, yeah.

ROGER FEDERER: We'll see. There's not much other things to do in Cincinnati, is there (laughter)?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, we occasionally play, you know. But I'm -- I don't want to have anything to blame, you know, while I'm in the tournament. So I don't play golf while I'm in, because if I lose, then I could blame it on the golf. So maybe now that I have one and a half weeks, you know, before the Open, I might go one time, so...