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SONY ERICSSON OPENMarch 24, 2012Roger FedererMIAMI, FLORIDA R. FEDERER/R. Harrison THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. What did you think of Ryan? I guess he played a little better in the second set he was saying. What were your impressions of him? ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, I've played him before, so it's not the complete unknown. But like I mentioned before the match, he'll make his move up the rankings. He's got a great second serve, and I think a player once said, You're only as good as your second serve. That's a great base for him. He's a good athlete. I hope he stays healthy so he can show everyone what he's got. You know, I think I played really well for most of the match really, and then at the end sort of derailed with some crazy stuff starting with, you know, that overhead miss at 15‑All. The rest we know. I felt like I had to win the match like three times at the end, so I was relieved to come through. And, you know, beating against an American in America is always a big deal, because this is here where they usually play their very best. Q. Do you feel like the "out" call by the fan threw you off a little bit? ROGER FEDERER: Just a little bit, yeah. I didn't play the shot, so it completely threw me off. I mean, it's the first time it's ever happened in my career. I don't even know what to think about it, because I was like, That's it? That's a break point? This is how this is gonna happen? Okay. I guess I'd like to make it a bit more difficult for my opponent, but I guess there's nothing I can do now. I don't know what the rules are, how loud maybe an out call has to be for it be maybe potentially replayed. I mean, it was just messed up. I should play the shot. It's my mistake at the end of the day. But it came from the direction of the linesman and it was loud enough for me to hear it clearly. I was looking for the linesman while the ball was coming over, and just at the very end I did see that she held both hands down saying that the ball was in. I was just completely confused about the whole situation. Q. How long did it take to put that point behind you? ROGER FEDERER: Well, what, 20 seconds until the umpire told me, There's nothing you can do about it. Q. No lingering effect then? ROGER FEDERER: No. I mean, I was already upset enough that I got down 15‑40 the way I did, so I was more upset at that than the actual point. It was a tough 10 minutes for me in that stretch, because I had other things happening after with the lines‑‑ the net cord he had at 15‑30, and then‑‑ I mean, it was tough. It was tricky then. Q. How were the conditions today? ROGER FEDERER: The conditions were warm but nice. Not much of a breeze, so easy to play and nice atmosphere. So it was nice. Q. Ryan just said that he thinks you're hitting your shots with more authority than you were last year. Would you agree with that? ROGER FEDERER: Well, I guess I'm more confident now. I have been playing really nice as of late, so obviously I'm, you know, gonna second guess myself a little bit less this time around. When we played each other last year it was the first time I ever played against him. There was a lot on the line. There was a lot of hype around that match. So, yeah, I mean, I just think I played a better match this time around than I did last year, as well. Q. You talked before about how you liked having the opportunity to play players from different generations. This year you have already had a chance to play Harrison, Raonic, Tomic. How would compare them to each other having played all three? ROGER FEDERER: Well, they're very different players. I mean, Raonic and, I don't know, Tomic couldn't be more different, you know. And then Harrison, he's sort of a typical American hard court player, you know. So but they're all very different, which is great. Seem to have different temperament. Completely different playing styles, as well. Yeah, it's interesting. I was thinking the same thing before the match, that now I'm playing these young guys more and more in the early rounds, which makes it tough, too, because some, you know, older players are, you know, getting pushed out of the rankings or they just don't want to do the traveling anymore and just have too much pain in the body. Who knows what it is. It's nice seeing young guys coming through, and it would be nice to see in the future actually teenagers. It is hard to make the breakthrough, it seems like, as a teenager right now. Q. Would you evaluate them at all? ROGER FEDERER: Who is 1, 2, 3? Q. Yeah. ROGER FEDERER: Not really. I think you still need to give them a bit more time. I think the rankings don't lie a whole lot. You go with that. I don't even know who's there. Q. It looked like the ball was going through the air very quickly. What was your feeling? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah. I mean, I think it's a bit faster than Indian Wells potentially, even though center court seems a bit slower than the outside courts. So I didn't have to adjust too much, but it definitely feels a bit slower depending on how you play. And, you know, especially when Ryan went all the way back it felt all of a sudden it's hard to put the ball away. But that's always felt like this here in Miami. But I think it remains a hard court tournament at the end of the day, and if you do play well and smart offensively you can create fast conditions. That's what I was able to do for most of the match. Q. Are you sending a message to a kid like that, Hey, the old guy is not ready to go yet? And maybe talk about playing Andy for the next round. ROGER FEDERER: No, not really. Look, I like playing against young guys from time to time, but I just think that they'll have their moment in the sun for so many more years to come, and they already they have it now. I think it's just fun to match‑‑ sort of match up with against them, really. Playing Andy always is special. We have had so many big matches over the years. I think he played a really good match today, and he seems like‑‑ you know, it's gonna be a tough match in the next one. He's beaten me here I think four years ago maybe and he's won a title here before. I think he's practiced, you know, a lot in Florida in the past, as well, I think. He must like this climate. He's played some of his best tennis over here. I know the danger, and I hope I can live up to the expectations or to the head‑to‑head record and get another win against him. But we'll see how it goes. Q. When you have had so much success against someone like Andy ‑ it's very lopsided with the numbers, anyway ‑ do you still view him as somebody dangerous? And why so? What is it about his game? What are you expecting from that match? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, doesn't matter if it's Juan Carlos Ferrero, Lleyton Hewitt, or Andy Roddick. All these guys have been world No. 1 and been in the top 10 for so long and won big tournaments time and time again, proven their point. They'll always remain dangerous until they, you know, retire. The head‑to‑head doesn't play a massive factor for me in every match I go in against Andy, because I know there's always a lot in Andy's racquet depending on how he serves. And, you know, if I don't play well, I know I won't win. So the pressure is there. That's what he can create with his game. This is why I never take a match lightly against him. Q. Last week Mirka and the girls weren't feeling well. I was wondering how they're feeling this week. What do you do in the household where you're staying to keep yourself immune from the germ? Do you play a role in the caregiving at all? ROGER FEDERER: Well, everyone is better, first of all, so that's great. Um, well, what do I do? When they're sick I take care of them, yeah, like‑‑ and I take the germs and I give them cuddles and I try to make them feel better. If I get sick, as well, that's too bad, you know. But I'm not gonna just sit on the balcony and look inside, you know, and feel bad for them. (Smiling.) Things went by, you know, slowly, and I'm happy that everything is okay again now. Q. About these young players, when you won your first Wimbledon you were almost 22 years old. How long do you think that it will take some of these players born in the '90s will have a Grand Slam title, be a real contender? What will they have to do to win a Grand Slam? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I don't know. I think they just have to keep on working hard and hopefully things fall into place, you know, at the right time, you know, right place. I think they have potential obviously to win Grand Slams. Right now it just feels difficult because you figure that, you know, there's gonna be‑‑ always feel there's at least two, if not three, maybe four guys in the quarters, at least semis, of the top guys are gonna be there. So you have to go through those guys, and we make it, I guess, very difficult mentally and physically to come through five matches, first of all, and then you've got to potentially beat us and you've got to beat us so early. Then you'll fight off the Ferrers of the world, you know, and so forth. So I think it just makes it quite difficult at the moment for a young guy to come through maybe at a slam. But then again, things can change very quickly in tennis. We know that today I'm saying this right now, and then at the French or at Wimbledon all of a sudden a young guy has won the tournament. So anything is possible I think, and that's the beauty of our sport and about sports in general, as well. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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