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BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 18, 2011

Roger Federer

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

R. FEDERER/S. Wawrinka
6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. A pretty good day at the office for you today.
ROGER FEDERER: Uh-huh, yeah, I agree. I'm happy. (Smiling.)

Q. Surprised your singles went as easily as it did?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, yes. I mean, I'm prepared for tougher matches, clearly. But I also know that if maybe my game is going well and I'm playing the right way against Stan, I can, you know, sneak in maybe a win like that. You know 6-3, 6-4, couple of breaks, one in each set, it should be possible.
But then, again, you know, I was down break points first game, and you don't know how it goes from there if he breaks. I know the danger. There is no secrets out there with Stan. It makes it really difficult playing a good friend like him.
I didn't he played his best match, but maybe that was due to tough conditions. I was playing good at times, and so from that side I'm really pleased; I'm excited about the semis.

Q. You've had so many interactions with Rafa and obviously the great matches, the XOs all the time with your fund-raising, probably in the locker room and probably tonight on court. Talk about Rafa off court as your friend, as a person. What do you like about him as a person?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, he's always in a good mood, you know. I have never seen Rafa come along and -- I have seen him tired, but not in a bad mood, you know. So I think that's what's nice about him. He's friendly. He's always the same guy.
He doesn't come in once, you know, and he doesn't know who you are, next day he remembers, you know. He's always very straight and very polite. Yeah, we enjoy each other's company, and it's nice to see him do well. It's obviously nice to play against him.

Q. It will be the third time you've faced Djokovic in the last two months. Are you thinking that given the two results that you need to have some adjustments to your game, or do you think the last two results were based on a few points here and there?
ROGER FEDERER: The Dubai final wasn't really -- I didn't play well in that finals. I thought he played well. He struggled in the semis, but then came out and played a great finals, and I completely missed my finals. There you go. That was kind of a missed opportunity for me.
I played a great finals before that, you know, the finals in Doha, the finals in Basel, in London. Stockholm as well. I had some good ones there in a row, but I unfortunately missed out on one.
Australia was played on a few points here and there, and once he got the lead he was playing extremely well. And, yeah, he deserved the Australian Open at the end of the day. He was good.
So it's up to me to possibly make some changes. I don't know. I haven't really thought about it yet. I have beat him four times before that. That's also happened in the last six months, so I can't be doing so many things wrong.
It's just that sometimes against top players you can't win them all. It's important to have the mindset and right game plan for tomorrow, and that's what I will be thinking about tonight and tomorrow.

Q. You won the toss and you elected the right side of the court. That's quite unusual. Can you talk us through the rationale behind it?
ROGER FEDERER: Because of the sun, where it was positioned, and the wind was coming from the left side of the umpire chair, so I decided to come from that side.

Q. The other day you talked about the charity and the foundation you're working on in South Africa. Speaking of charities, do you have any thoughts on the Japanese, what's happening in Japan?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it's very sad. I have been following very closely, you know. It's obviously devastating, and very sad news. You know, I hope that everybody that cares about me knows that I care about them, as well.
You know, I watched this, and it's not fun, you know, to see that happening. I have been if Tokyo. I have really enjoyed my time in Japan. Of course, if we can do something somewhere down the stretch, you know, I'm very happy to obviously help.
I don't know if we're doing something in Miami or not. I haven't heard anything yet, you know. But I'm sure we will come up with some sort of a plan. But it's very sad news, clearly.

Q. Have you ever played doubles in front of that many people?
ROGER FEDERER: I wouldn't know. I don't remember how full the Olympic final was, for instance, or Davis Cup or this. I have been around. I have played a few.

Q. Was it fun out there?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it was good fun. I enjoyed it.

Q. With the singles and doubles, you'll potentially play quite a few matches in Friday, Saturday, Sunday. How do you feel about your ability and recovery tonight and your ability to...
ROGER FEDERER: I feel fine. I have my little issues this tournament, but all is okay. I'm able to serve 100% again, and I feel like I'm, you know, moving well, too. I feel like I have a lot of energy left, so I'm not worried about the semis tomorrow.
That shouldn't be an issue, unless I wake up tomorrow and there's something is wrong. But that's not due to overplay, which can happen.
No, I feel fine. And then the doubles final, I don't even know when it is, but that will then go one after another. So focus is on the semis, and then we will see how difficult the weekend will become.

Q. I know you haven't had a chance to think too much about the match tomorrow, but any initial thoughts about what you will be trying to do tomorrow to win that match?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, I won't be chipping in the ball. I'll definitely go after it. We always have usually a battle for court position. He's a very good defensive player and attacking player too, so you've got to take it to Novak; he does the same to me. That's why I think we have always very exciting matches, and actually very close, except the Dubai one, and occasionally you get one that doesn't go so close.
But usually we play pretty tight against each other. It's due to both aggressive plays and good abilities, offense and defense, and it's always a pleasure playing against him.

Q. You have a battle where Novak can pass you for No. 2. Does that stuff ever enter your mind?
ROGER FEDERER: No. I mean, I didn't know it was the case coming into the tournament, and I feel like if you are playing a fellow top 5 guy, it doesn't matter what's on the line. You just want to beat him, and it doesn't matter if it's the finals, semis, rankings involved.
Honestly it has no impact on my preparation for tomorrow. I know I can beat him, and that's all I care about right now, and then we will see how it goes tomorrow.

Q. Is there a different mindset for you when you're coming out against someone like Novak compared to a lot of the other players?
ROGER FEDERER: In the sense that he's a good player, yeah. And that he's better than 95% of the other guys in the top 100, it changes the preparation a little bit because you know of his abilities.
Other than that, not really, because it's another match, and I enjoy playing against top guys. I think I have a great record against fellow top 10 players, and that's what kind of gets you going. I will try everything to be well-prepared.

Q. You have had such a great career, and the other night you mentioned you had good fortune in terms of your health. You could always change things; things could always be better. If you could change one or two things in your career over the years, what would that have been?
ROGER FEDERER: In terms of?

Q. Oh, just approaches, activity of play, coaches, stroke-wise.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah. Not the right time before a semis to talk about stuff like this. (Laughter.)
I think once you do your final press conference when you're done I can tell you what I could have changed. Right now, honestly, it would be wrong for me to tell you what I could have changed and what not.
I feel like I have had great coaching throughout my career. Yeah, I don't feel I did many things wrong, but maybe in ten years I can tell you differently.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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