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SHANGHAI ROLEX MASTERSOctober 9, 2013Roger FedererSHANGHAI, CHINA R. FEDERER/A. Seppi THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Tough early in the match for you. But you quickly recovered and broke straight back. You seemed to discover your mojo. Talk us how the match went. ROGER FEDERER: Look, conditions are pretty quick here so you have to be focused on your own serve. If you're not careful, you can be broken rather quickly. Even though it is quick, that creates a danger. Might have not hit enough serves yet, didn't have the rhythm from the baseline yet. Just a tough combination when I got broken. Like you said, I was able to break back right away still with the used balls. Then with the ball change, I was in the match really. It was a big maybe shall I say 20 minutes going up a set and a break, really started to feel comfortable. Even though it remained tough, Seppi did a good job of hanging around. That's the kind of first‑round match you want in this particular situation I'm in right now. Q. Can you talk a little bit about your next match with Gaël. Pretty entertaining one. ROGER FEDERER: It's always very entertaining playing Gaël. I love the guy, the way he plays, how he entertains the crowd, shot selection, the way he executes as well. It's unreal really. I'm looking forward to it. He's had a tough year. A lot of injuries, a lot of personal things going on. It's nice seeing him back again, trying, finishing strong. He usually plays pretty well towards the end of the season, sort of with Bercy waiting for him in the back there. I played him there on a quick court in the past in the semis and lost on match point maybe. I know what he can do. We've played plenty of times. When he's on, he's very dangerous. Plays like a top‑five, top‑six kind of guy. That's what I have to expect tomorrow. Q. You've been active on Twitter since you got here to Shanghai. Yesterday was quite funny. Talk about using social media platforms to engage your fans. How do you feel about it now that you are using it? ROGER FEDERER: It's definitely something I wanted to see how it developed, for other players, for the world really. Were people really actually excited about it, didn't care, didn't like it. I just wanted to wait and see. This year at the French Open took a decision to join Twitter. Facebook already for some time. I just didn't want to let the fans down if I did join that I was not going to live up to the expectations. I just don't want them to expect me to do something every single day or every single week. It goes in phases, like moods, you're not always in the mood for things. It was really funny yesterday, the Q&A. I really enjoyed it. I had so many tweets and questions coming in, it was really a lot of fun. Just a different type of way to connect to the fans, have a good time with it. They don't have to go search for you. I can kind of come to them on the Twitter level, and Facebook too. So far it's been a lot of fun. I hope the fans also enjoy that they can connect with me on that platform. Q. Seems like you are the most popular one here. Everybody came to watch your practice this afternoon. The first time you came here, do you still remember the fans were the same, crazy about you? Do you realize that in your game? Even Nadal came to watch your game. ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, it was crazy in the practice today. I mean, I expected some people to be there, but not sort of hanging over the fence and holding up the banner, 'I believe in you.' It was great energy, I must say. It gives me unbelievable motivation, inspires me to train hard, work hard, push further, you know, for that particular day, but also wanting to come back again next year, and again and again. I really appreciate the support I get, not just here in Shanghai, particularly here, but also around the world. I've traveled a lot. I became more popular ever since I came here in 2002, where I got in as No.6, No.7, No.8 even. Managed to play a good World Tour Finals. The more times you come back here, the more time you spend over here, a big thing is the more successful you are all around the world, the more well‑known you become, the more you can connect with the fans. That seems what's really happening.  The last few years have been an absolute blast on tour, and I hope it continues this way. Q. You had a few more errors out there tonight than I'm sure you wanted. Were you feeling match rustiness after the long break? What do you have to do to get through that? Does it come after a few matches? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, like you said, even though it didn't feel like I've been away for a long time, you kind of know it. Then when you do play, it kind of comes back. When you miss, you think, Oh, that's because of the break. When you make a nice shot, you're like, Okay, the practices have started to pay off. Instead of just thinking point for point, what do I want to do, your mind starts to wander, not in a bad way, but it's just not that natural yet. That's why I need to keep on playing matches. That's why I'm really happy with this first round, that I'm in the tournament. I found my groove. Now I can sort of look forward. Q. You spoke a little bit about expecting a bit of a lag this year on the back of the Olympics. Do you still feel like your best years are ahead of you? ROGER FEDERER: Well, yeah, I mean, I have 20 years more left on tour, so I believe the best is yet to come (smiling). No, I mean, it's been a great career so far. Right now I'm very focused on playing within the moment, finishing strong, preparing for next year. That's big. It's been a more difficult season than other years. This year it wasn't just running from one tournament victory to the other. I had to digest a couple of tough losses, some injuries, so forth. But I'm still playing. Didn't miss actually that much if you think about it. Start in Jan, going to finish in November. Something I've done for 12 years, 13 years now. I'm proud that I've never actually missed an entire part of the season. That's also what I'm aiming again to do this year. I've always been very careful with my schedule. That's why I still hope I clearly have some very good tennis left in me. Q. Last week Novak was talking about wanting to see some changes within doping control, related to the Troicki case, that there needs to be some sort of check that allows players to skip a test. What are your thoughts on the current protocols in terms of how tests are issued and whether or not there needs to be any changes in the system? ROGER FEDERER: Oh, big debate. Where do you want me to start? I want it as tough as possible, as many tests as possible. You're not allowed to skip tests. I don't care what the circumstances are, except if they're super extreme, you're in the hospital already, whatever. But I just think, yeah, I mean, when you get tested, you show up, you do it, you move on. Doesn't matter what time of the day, where it is. It's got to be human, not criminal in a way. That they treat you nice, not unfair but tough. That's fine, you know. They always know where we are. It has already increased so much ever since I came on tour. Things were much more mellow. I remember one day they were waiting in front of my house at 10:00 in the morning. I left at 9:00. I came back at 10:30 and they were still waiting there and about to leave. I did the doping test then. For their sake now I think it's better and easier for them to come and find us and test us. That's the way it's supposed to be. I don't know exactly what Novak said or anybody says. I just know it needs to be extremely tough and the punishments need to be severe because you want the athletes not to think about is it worth it because I'll get away with it and the punishment will not be so big. So I'm just all for anything it takes to catch the bad people. Q. How did you come out to with the name for your doubles team? ROGER FEDERER: On Twitter? Q. Yes, your doubles team. ROGER FEDERER: I don't know. You're messing around, right? Hashtag, let's have some fun. I mean, what is it? I saw so many tweets, people trying to come up with different type of names. You just sort of go with it, communicate. I couldn't believe how well we both played. This is my second doubles of the year. I haven't practiced once doubles this year. We came out and played this well. Plus I don't exactly know how well he plays every day, but in practice he was impressive. He has a good work ethic. That we came out playing so well was beautiful. I'm looking forward to another doubles match tomorrow and hope we can do really well. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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