Hopman Cup & AO 2019 PC's & Interviews

HOPMAN CUP 2019 - RR1 Press Conference   SUN Dec 30, 2018

> Roger Federer after his victory against Cameron Norrie

> Transcript

No official transcript available, but here are some highlights of that press conference, as posted by InspiredTennis in the Hopman Cup thread:

Flawless Federer begins with a win

by Hopman Cup



Roger Federer opens his new season with an impressive win at Mastercard Hopman Cup
@Getty Images


Roger Federer has started his Mastercard Hopman Cup campaign in perfect fashion, brushing past world No.91 Cameron Norrie 6-1 6-1 in 57 minutes   ..……..

“It was very good. I came out of the blocks quick. I wasn’t missing any rhythm,” Federer said after his win over world No.91 Norrie.

“I’m happy in all aspects of my game that things were working – foot work, offensive play, serve, return – it was all there. It was a great match for me.”

Although thrilled with his first-up performance, Federer doesn’t want to get too carried away just yet.

“It’s still early days, but I feel like I’ve played some sets and points in practice, so you kind of know where you are,” Federer said.

“I guess what you’re seeking here is confirmation to see is everything there that you thought there was, or is there any fixing still to be done in the coming weeks. We are still learning.” ……….

Leading into his clash with Federer, Norrie described it as a boyhood dream to face the 20-time Grand Slam champion……

AO 2019 - Pre-Tournament Press Conference   SAT 12 Jan 2019

> Transcript

Roger Federer
Pre-tournament press conference

12 Jan 2019

Q. I want to ask you about Andy Murray retiring. What are your thoughts on the decision? How hard is it the decision he's had to take?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, I think his body took the decision, unfortunately, in this case. Well, I think it must have been a very long couple of years for him now. I remember when I played with him in Glasgow, I know how not well he was. I couldn't believe he actually played. But it was for a good cause. He felt like he could do sort of the two and a half sets that we played.

I guess everybody can understand where he comes from. At some point when you feel like you're never going to get back to 100%, you've had the success that Andy has had, you can only understand the decision.

I was disappointed and sad, a little bit shocked, to know now that we're going to lose him at some point. But we're going to lose everybody at some point. It's just now that it's definite.

Of course, I hope that he can play a good Australian Open and he can keep playing beyond that, really finish the way he wants to at Wimbledon. That's what I hope for him.

Of course, it hits us top guys hard because we know Andy very well. We like him. He doesn't have many enemies, to be quite honest. He's a good guy, Hall of Famer, legend. He won everything he wanted to win. Anybody would substitute their career with his. He's a great guy.

It's a tough one, but one down the road he can look back on and be incredibly proud of everything he has achieved.


Q. You told us you made several changes in the kind of preparation you do in the off-season. Did you make any significant changes in the preparation you did before this season, also regarding the clay?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, yeah, so I didn't change my schedule depending on the clay. I just had a normal buildup. I think it was more about how was the body going to be after vacation. Did it allow me to do all the sessions, work as hard as I wanted to. I was able to do that. I think I was probably even able to work a bit harder than I thought I was going to. I didn't miss any sessions. I think I added on top of it. I came out of it actually strong.

Throughout my career, I've been very lucky that in the off-seasons I never had any setbacks or any real setbacks that took me away from the court another week, and all of a sudden that off-season was no off-season, it was more managing pain or managing a schedule. From that standpoint, no, it was not based on clay in any way. I still haven't taken the ultimate decision on that.

What I can say is the off-season was great for me. I think maybe it showed a little bit at the Hopman Cup already. Again, look, I'm playing tomorrow. We'll see how it's going to be here in Melbourne.


Q. What you were saying about Andy, he was describing how these days there's certain things day-to-day he can't do, like putting on his socks and shoes without feeling pain. As somebody who is 37, compared to 10 years ago, what are the differences? Are there notable differences about you as an athlete, you as a body, that has changed?

ROGER FEDERER: Hmm. I think everybody is a bit different, you know, how they react to recovery or how they react to a hard match. Probably every player has some sort of weak spot in their body. For some it's the foot. For some it's the hip. For some it's the knee. For some it's the back. For some it's the elbow. For some it's the shoulder. Whatever it may be, that's then their ongoing problem probably for a long period of time. Once you have that, that part of the body probably takes the longest time to heal or recover. That can be at one point, well, it just doesn't get that much better.


Q. Does age change things?

ROGER FEDERER: I think what happens with age maybe the most is that certain things take longer to recover from. Let's just say, whereas in the past, I don't want to say 27, because 27 you're already like 15 years or 10 years into your career, but when you're, like, young, let's just say you have, I don't know, a pain in let's just say the elbow, sort of next day you can play with it, two days later it's like you never had it.

All of a sudden at maybe 30, 35, 40, depending on who you are, what problems you've had, you will just feel it for two weeks. You can still play, but now you're playing with pain. It just takes longer to get rid of.

Again, everybody is very different. Everybody takes the pain differently. I think then that's also where you have to be very wise what kind of schedule you're playing with, what problem you're dealing with.


Q. Do you think Hopman Cup right before coming here adds to the confidence at the Australian Open?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, for me it worked very well. The last couple years I've had wonderful Hopman Cups. I think it's a good way for me to just feel good, play well. Team environment, you know, with Belinda, as well. I enjoy playing the mixed, as well. The stadium feels great. The crowds are unbelievable. It's on the way from Dubai over, so the jetlag is not too crazy for me.

There's many positives to take away from the Hopman Cup in Perth. It was successful, the preparation, also paying off here in Melbourne. That was obviously a bit of a surprise because I never expected to win the last couple of Australian Opens.

This year, again, we'll see what happens, but I'm very happy with the preparation thus far. Yeah, super excited that it's just a day away now from my next match. This is going to be exciting.


Q. I remember you saying after winning last year that you kind of had the feeling all the way through the tournament that you weren't going to win, something was going to happen. How are you feeling kind of this year? Are you more confident this time or...

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I don't want to overanalyze how I played in the off-season, how I played at the Hopman Cup. That's exactly how then I might not recover if I have a bad start in the match tomorrow, let's say. So I think the focus really is on those early rounds, especially tomorrow has to be.

I know what Denis did to Novak. I watched basically the entire game a couple years ago when he beat Novak here. I've had some tough ones against him in the past. He can play well in fast courts, and that's what it's going to be a little bit here as well.

Look, I'm playing good tennis. I'm confident that I think it needs a good performance by my opponent probably to beat me. That's always a good thought. But then again, I think I'm playing well.

Depending on how you match up with your opponent, who is going to win the big points, the margins are so slim nowadays that I'm just not thinking too far ahead. I don't think I should because I think that would be a mistake. I hope I can put myself in contention as the tournament goes deeper, but we'll see.


Q. I have a question about ATP politics. There's a group on the ATP player council who are keen for change of leader. There's also a board member who is awaiting criminal charges in the U.S. Do you have any views on where the political situation is at the moment?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I don't know about the council situation. You apparently know more than I do, so that's good for you.

Anyway, I was going to speak to some of the council members, I'm practicing with one of them this afternoon, Robin Haase. I would like to hear a little bit from him how the council meeting went.

Where their general feel is about leadership in the ATP, I think we've had a good five, six years now under Chris' leadership. Obviously it's an important role. We need to look at it very thoroughly. I need to speak with Novak, Rafa, and Andy a little bit just to get their take on it all.

Yeah, with the board member, we know the situation. It's pending. We're waiting to see what's going to happen. I know him well. So we'll see what the situation is there.

But it's definitely interesting times, I'd like to call it, not bad times in our sport. I think it's maybe also a bit of a transition time. So it will be interesting to see what's going to happen. I think with the ATP Cup and also the Davis Cup, we need to wait and see what happens, really to be quite honest, to be able to give a true opinion.

Yeah, a lot is happening. But, you know, it's all okay, whatever. I don't think it's bad.


Q. Back on fitness issues, what you were saying about age. I know you've had your own fitness issues, particularly the last two or three years. Overall over your career it's probably true that Rafa in particular, Andy maybe, Stan, have had bigger, more serious issues. Do you have any thoughts as to why it is at your age you're still so fit, able to carry on playing?

ROGER FEDERER: I mean, I definitely need a little bit of luck. If you look at how unlucky things were with the incident here a few years ago when I ran the bath, I guess the knee, that part of the body was ready to go. Could have happened easily in the match against Novak, but it didn't, maybe because I was warmed up. I have no idea what happened. I think you also need a little bit of luck.

Then I think I really understand my body very well. I know when something hurts and I can play with it; I know when something hurts and I should not play with it, but I can still play maybe a match, maybe a week, a month, whatever it may be. Sometimes that helps. But I feel like every player has that.

I can only speak about my team. I think my team also, they know when to push me, when actually they are happy that I don't practice so much.

I've always also believed I can play tennis when I don't train so much. I think that's been maybe one thing that for me, the confidence I have in my game, even if I don't play so much, I still feel like I can come up to a good level. Maybe takes away some pressure.

Maybe also the way I play tennis, maybe it's smoother than the other guys. It just maybe looks that way. I work extremely hard in the matches as well. It just maybe doesn't come across so much. I don't know if that's also something that maybe is part of the equation.

AO 2019 - R1 Press Conference   MON 14 Jan, 2019

> Transcript

Roger Federer 1R interview
def. Denis Istomin 6-3 6-4 6-4

14 Jan 2019


Q. You're playing Dan Evans. What do you remember from that 2016 match on Centre Court?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, to be honest, I remember playing well. I remember the match more when I played against him at the Hopman Cup a couple years ago. I think it was my first match back after the knee issue. So that was my first match. Clearly that was in some ways memorable. It was our first or second match, I don't remember.

It was a good match. I liked the way he played. He's got all the shots. Likes to take chances, takes the ball early. It's nice to see him back on the tour as well. I'm happy for him that he won his first round.


Q. How were you feeling tonight out there? Pretty routine win.

ROGER FEDERER: I think I was hitting the ball pretty well. Yeah, look, I think I protected my serve well, didn't allow Denis really to get into my service games very often. I was always in the lead, as well. Obviously that helps. I can free swing maybe a little bit more. At the same time I think I have to do some defense, some offense. It was a bit of everything.

But I'm very happy with my first round, to be honest. It's been great. Felt the ball really good.


Q. If you had to narrow it down and say one or two things that you really appreciate about Andy, what would you say?

ROGER FEDERER: What I appreciate about Andy?

Q. Yes.

ROGER FEDERER: First thing that comes to mind is somebody that will try everything on the court to beat you. I appreciate that. Within the rules, whatever he does, with his fighting spirit, with his tactics, with slicing, defense, attacking play, even serve and volley, chip and charge, he'll do it all. He'll leave everything out there.

I feel there's no regrets for him after losing a game. I like that about him because I can't stand it when guys go into the match and they're just content, I do my thing, it doesn't work, so be it. He's not like that.

Yeah, he's one of the great retrievers we had in our sport. He's a big guy to do that. He's more from the modern generation, with Novak together, two guys that move like smaller guys. Yeah, carrying the weight of Britain on his shoulders for British tennis, that was not easy for him. I think you could see that it wasn't always simple at times for him.

At the end, all of us, the players, we're extremely happy that he ended up winning Wimbledon, Davis Cup, Olympic gold, even though Olympic gold went through me.

He had to really fight for it and earn it, like world No. 1. He gave it all he had after Novak's incredible start to the season. He had a sick finish. There's a lot to admire about Andy, how he went about it.


Q. Rafa earlier expressed his concern that the guys on the players council hadn't gone to him to get his opinion on the changing of Chris Kermode. Is there a bit of a worry that the players council is insular at the moment, not going out and hearing points of view from the rest of the tour, especially experienced guys like you and Rafa?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, I knew about it. I really tried to be interested, to be quite honest. If I want to voice my opinion, I need to know. I care. But it's hard, especially through the off-season, to stay in touch with everybody. The problem with Rafa, as well, he's been away a little bit through injury at the end of the year. All of a sudden you realize, Well, Rafa was not around that much, as well. So somebody has to call him. For somebody to call Rafa, it's always a bit like, I don't want to bother the guy.

I think it's tricky, but somebody needs to reach out to him, no doubt about it. For that we have player representatives.

Look, whatever happened happened. I anyway wanted to speak to Novak a little bit about the whole situation. I also definitely want to speak to Rafa now that he's back on tour. We're here, we're playing the same day. I would like to meet him on an off day and get his take now that he voiced his opinion about the tour. It's nice to see that he cares, regardless if it's positive or negative. I think it's always good when top guys care.

I was on the council with him. I get along with Rafa really well. I do also with Novak. I just want to get the take and see how we can move the sport into the right direction moving forward. Not that there is any miscommunication and groups being built in some shape or form. I don't know exactly what has been going on in that regard.

Look, it's a big decision-making time right now. I think it's important that Rafa, Novak, and me, we get together.


Q. I don't think you faced a breakpoint tonight. Is your serve at career best?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, I think it's going so well. I think I can trust my second serve in particular. When you trust your second serve, you can go after your first serve. I have good variation, to be quite honest. This court plays slightly different to the Hopman Cup. At the Hopman Cup also I served very well.

I think I can be happy how I got out of the blocks from the off-season. I think that's always the most tricky part, is how do you get through your service games time and time again, because if you don't get broken much, or hardly ever, not at all, you have so little pressure on the return games, you can really try out different things.

I think I started to feel that midway through the first set already that it was going to be difficult for Denis to get into my service games. That relaxes you from the baseline. Then good things really happen.


Q. On one of the rare occasions your serve was challenged, you serve-volleyed. Are you comfortable doing that on these courts?

ROGER FEDERER: Yes. I mean, I played a lot of serve and volley against Zverev, basically the whole match at the Hopman Cup. I feel like I'm volleying really well. I feel really comfortable at net. I think also mixed doubles, to be quite honest, helped me because I served and volleyed in the mixed doubles all the time and spent a lot of time at net. I've been feeling good at net for quite some time now. I think the transition with the sprints and stuff, I feel really good about it. My body is in good shape.

I think it always depends on who you're playing a little bit, depending on how they return or well, it's better or not to serve and volley against certain players.

Today I didn't feel the super urge to do it. The way Denis returns when he does connect, maybe it's dangerous when you serve and volley. I only did it in selective times.

Look, we'll see who I play and if it can be of good use. I'm happy I have it in the bag.

AO 2019 - R2 Press Conference   WED 16 Jan, 2019

> Transcript

Roger Federer 2R interview

Second round
def. Daniel Evans 7-6 7-6 6-3

16 Jan 2019

Q. Did Dan Evans surprise you, the level of tennis he plays?

ROGER FEDERER: No. I have high regard, you know, in Dan. I think he's a good player. I've seen him play some really good matches over the years. I see why he can cause difficulties to players. He's got a nice slice, defending the court well. He has the variation, which is always a hard thing to play against. He was feeling it today, I thought. He was very sort of cat and mouse a bit. Very interesting. I liked the match. I thought he was playing well. It was enjoyable, yeah.


Q. The new Dunlop tennis balls, some players have made comments they're a little bit too hard, not easy to put good spin on them, especially at night. How have you found them so far?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, they definitely play a touch different to the ones we've had the last couple years. I do see what they're saying. At night the spin is not taking off tremendously. I think, yeah, for me, I definitely have to go through a minor adjustment maybe from Perth, which was a faster court.

Look, one year ago it was too far back. It's hard to out-spin guys here. As they changed the finals also to a night session, and the semis also night sessions, I just feel like it's really important to have fast enough courts for night session conditions as the main matches are being played there. If you keep it slow, slow, at night the ball doesn't move.

From that standpoint I think they have done a nice job of speeding up the courts. Now the ball, honestly still early in the tournament to exactly tell you how it feels exactly. I still feel like you can serve your way out of trouble from the baseline. You can spin and slice, all that stuff we saw today.

It is true, you can't out-spin a guy here. I think that's clear.


Q. Dan was top 40. Quite a long way away from that now.

ROGER FEDERER: What is he now?

Q. 189. Do you think he can get back to where he was, push on higher?

ROGER FEDERER: Yes. I mean, for me, I didn't even know his ranking. For me he's a top 100 player. Once you're 80 or 60 or 40, you can be all those things, and beyond probably. I just think it's in the details at the end of the day. How much can you give to the sport? How much are you willing? Can you stay injury-free? Get your ranking up, be really there for the crucial moments? I think he can be top 50 again, no problem, yeah.


Q. What was the joke you had with him in the second set?
ROGER FEDERER: Joke?

Q. Something about a baby crying.
ROGER FEDERER: Really? I didn't see that.

Q. You and Dan were chatting.
ROGER FEDERER: About the rain. There was a baby crying?

Q. Yes.

ROGER FEDERER: No, I mean, we were not joking and there were no babies. I don't know which match you were watching. You were watching centre, right? I'm kidding.

I think it was maybe he made a joke, but I couldn't hear what he actually said, to be quite honest. I asked him: ;Do you want to keep playing?; The first time we decided not to play because the lines were already slippery. The second time around, I looked at him again, if he doesn't want to play, we won't play. If he was willing to play, I was willing to play, too. I wanted to give the choice to him.

He was laughing because it was deuce, not 40-15 that time. He was maybe feeling like I wanted to take advantage of the situation. I really didn't. Then I didn't hear what joke he said. Maybe he said something about a baby crying and something else.

Q. He said he was doing all the running anyway.

ROGER FEDERER: Okay, so yeah, that was the conversation. Nothing else. I don't know where that came from.


Q. As it's working out this year at the Grand Slams, every match is going to end a different way if you get a tiebreaker, seven points, 10 points, after 12-12, the regular way they've been playing at the French. Do you think that's good for the game or do you think it should be more uniform?

ROGER FEDERER: I mean, you would think that uniform would make sense, wouldn't it? At the same time I think it's also exciting this way at the end of the day. They told us in the last five years, two per cent of the matches have finished this way here at the Australian Open. It's really that little amount of matches that actually go the distance.

I feel like, I said this also in the past, if you get to 6-6 in the fifth, you've had your chances, and so has your opponent had chances. I think it also gives you an opportunity to keep on playing in the tournament if it ends like here or at the US Open in a tiebreaker in the fifth.

At the same time I like tradition, I like the long sets. They even had them in normal sets, not just in the fifth set back in the day, when the likes of Tony Roche played, so forth. From that standpoint, it's a bit disappointing.

At the same time I understand where the game is going. It's getting more demanding potentially. But we don't play doubles or mixed any more like the old generation did. They were incredibly match tough, as well. I can't even see like we are fitter or tougher than they were because I feel like they were tough as nails.

Actually I think it's quite funny that we have four different endings to slams. But it's all good from my side. I hope I won't be there anyway (smiling).


Q. Novak said at the start of the year that the top three, the fab four, are the favourites to win slams this year. Do you feel that way because you all have greater experience, know when it comes down to five, tough situations? Do you feel that way, too?

ROGER FEDERER: Yes, I guess so. I mean, look, I think we know how to win slams, Novak, Rafa, myself. I mean, Rafa has to be the No. 1 favorite, I don't care how he feels, before the French. Novak is always a favorite on the hard courts, basically any court of his feeling, 100 per cent, if he plays like last year. Maybe just because of my amount of titles I have at Wimbledon and other places, maybe also have to put me in the mix every time, as well.

There are other guys, no doubt about it. I think also with Sascha holding the World Tour Finals, I think it's fair to say that even though he has not ripped through those slams yet, he will go deep this year definitely at one of them, maybe even here. We'll see.


Q. You've said in the past when you were younger, you planned to have a longer career, so you played less maybe. At any point in the past, was it difficult to not overplay when you had setbacks or when you lost?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I remember vividly a conversation I had after I became world No. 1, after here actually in 2004. I got back to Switzerland, had a conversation with Pierre Paganini, my fitness coach. He said, Just do me a favour, please, and don't chase appearance fees and play every tournament. Because we got the appearance fees in the 250s and 500s.
I was like, No I won't. I will try to play the best schedule possible. I will always tell you if I have an amazing guarantee, maybe I would like to play it because it's also a nice place, it works out, we can work it out beforehand.

I think I can be very happy that I didn't do that. The problem is, I was 23 at the time, you don't know how long you're going to be at the top. You don't know how long you're going to see these guarantees. You don't know how long you're going to be successful. You just don't know.

That's why I think a tennis player's life, it's very short-term planning. It makes it kind of difficult because we don't have a five-year deal in some club, like team sports. We have to live a very normal life, which I think keeps us very humble and normal, to be quite honest.

I'm happy I was able to stay injury-free, stay true to that plan of not overplaying, taking the time off. It's hard going into a fitness build-up for five, six weeks during the season while other guys are winning tournaments. Oh, I could win maybe one or two tournaments in that spell, as well. But I'm doing it for my own game and for my own health, for the future.

So, yeah, it's tricky. But I can only advise a lot of juniors and younger guys coming through to do something similar, yeah. Depends on where you come from, where you're training. It all matters a little bit.

AO 2019 - R3 Press Conference   FRI 18 Jan, 2019

> Transcript

Roger Federer 3R interview

Third round
def. Taylor Fritz 6-2 7-5 6-2


Q. I understand Nick Kyrgios was commentating on your game. These are some of the things he said. Federer's timing is scary good. He hits everything on the half volley. Oh, my goodness, butter, so smooth. He's zoning at the moment.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, we need him to play first before commentating for the whatever 10-plus years (smiling).

No, he's always good for a headline. Look, I like Nick. I like the way he plays and all that. Yeah, I was happy to hear that he was in the commentary booth. He's got a bit of time, sticks around, shows he's passionate about the game.

That's what we need to see. But we wish he was on the court rather than a commentary booth. But I hope he did a good job.


Q. You play a lot of night matches. Sometimes very late. How much different is it on your mind, your body, maybe even your spirit playing at 1:00p, versus 1:00am?

ROGER FEDERER: I mean, look, I think for me nowadays I go in phases where sometimes I don't see day matches for a long time, you know, especially Dubai, let's just say, the matches are always at night. I mean, for the top guys. Here with the semis and finals and quarters, if you play well here you're always going to see three, four, night session matches, same thing.

And Indian Wells, Miami, they are also 50/50 spread out. Next thing you know, by the time you hit the clay, where there's no more clay court matches, you have played 70 per cent maybe in the night, and the weird thing is we never practice at night. You know, we're always, you know, for schedule, just easy to play during the daytime.

And I remember early on in my career I played much more in, like, especially in America, I think early on because of the time change to Europe with Eurosport being the host broadcaster, I remember that happened a lot.

So I have worked my way into the night, I guess. But for me playing early, like 1:00, definitely that's a little bit of a change. I just think with my age I just need extra warmup, extra, you know, care to details so I'm actually really firing at 1:00pm.


Q. You have said yourself age is just a number. Somebody else thought exactly the same thing was the great Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey, she ran her personal best at the age of 36, Olympic silver medalist at the age of 40, semifinalist at 44, missed qualifying at 48, ran under 12 seconds at 52. She's still competing at the age of 58.

ROGER FEDERER: There you go. I won't do that, but... (Laughter.)

Q. Do you think, looking at those kind of numbers, do you think your best might be yet to come?

ROGER FEDERER: No, I don't think so (laughter). I think the last 10 have been a lot of fun, maybe more fun than the first 10, I'm not sure. But yeah, I don't think with four children and with the career that I have had and my body, I want it to be somewhat healthy and healthy actually when I retire, I don't think that's a good idea, you know, to be quite honest.

Yeah, for the time being, it's all good. Lights are on green. I'm injury-free, enjoying myself. The kids are having a great time too on the tour. My wife's happy. So for the moment there is absolutely no complaints and no plans. So I'm just happy where I am in my life, in my career right now.

But these numbers are definitely something else. Unreachable numbers.


Q. On the night sessions, yesterday Konta and Muguruza finished at 3:10am. I know we have seen that before, but there was hardly anyone here watching. Do you think it's good for tennis to have play at that time or should something be done with the scheduling to try and prevent that?

ROGER FEDERER: What do you want me to tell you? I think for the people in the stadium, there was a few, you know, they were happy. People on the TV, they were still happy that tennis was going on.

Is it ideal? No, it's not. But sometimes what can you do if you schedule a match at, especially a men's match before, and that thing goes, you know, four, five hours, and it can happen, you know, as we saw also with Zverev and Chardy, they played that great match.

I don't know what other choices you have. I mean, you could move them on an outside court, but then the atmosphere might be quite sad, you know, if you put them on the outside-court.

So I think it is what it is, and they also played a long match. You just deal with it. You move on. You know that's not going to happen again. They're going to try to help you out with scheduling the next time that you play maybe later in the evening again, so you stay somewhat in that rhythm. So I think the tournament tries to accommodate that kind of situation.

I also went, after the first day, I didn't even finish so late, but I also went to bed at 3:15 or 3:30. It's just what we do. I think as tennis players you have to be flexible, especially in the head. We don't know if we play at 11:00 or 1:00 or super late. It's not like a team sport where you know the kick-off time is at a certain time. We are used to playing three times in the juniors in a day. This is part of our life and we actually like it like this. There is no solution, I think.


Q. Could you talk about your next opponent, Tsitsipas.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I'm happy I played against him at the Hopman Cup. I think he played really well there. I actually did too. I thought it was really high-quality tennis. This is obviously a different type of match, it being best of five, it being a fourth round of a slam, you know, where we know now how we feel on this court. I think he had to work extremely hard against Basilashvili again today, because he hits hard and I saw him before I went out really defending well and a lot.

I'm happy for him. He's playing so well, and I'm looking forward to the matchup with him. I think it's going to be a good one. I like how he mixes up his game and also comes to the net. So will I. I think we will see some athletic attacking tennis being played.


Q. Injuries are obviously bad, but it seems like in this sport more than any other players benefit from maybe long layoffs, getting away from the tour. Berdych talked a lot about it, Sloane Stephens. Why do you think that is? Also thinking back to 2017, maybe that was also the case with you, kind of refreshing you a bit.

ROGER FEDERER: And the question is about having a long break?

Q. Yeah. What is it about tennis, when some players get away from the sport for a long period, it refreshes them even more than, say, training for six months?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I think every sport has somewhat of an offseason. We have two but you can't count it like that. Let's not talk scheduling during this tournament. There's no point, no perfect solution there too.

What I think is good about our sport is it is sort of going all year round. If you do get injured, you can jump back into it and you don't have to wait another five months because there is no tournament going on.

I think there is very much positives about our long schedule that we have. I think when you have been on the tour like Berdych and myself, played full seasons for many, many years, and you take a long break off – Rafa has had them, injuries, mostly they come through injuries naturally. I think it just gives the body a chance to sort of heal itself and maybe also the mind to take a step back.

And when you come back to the tour, you see the guys and you step in the press room, the way you deal with, I don't know, you know, the pressure, all of a sudden you see things a bit either more clear or more relaxed instead of, you know, there is so many trees that you can't see any more where you're at.

I think all of a sudden it's much more clear, and I hope that Tomas is there now, and I think that's maybe also why he's playing well. You know, minor tweaks and adjustments can make a big difference at the end of the day in our sport. The margins are super slim.

So it will be interesting to follow those guys who do tend to take a bigger break. It's just hard because your ranking is always, because we have a one-year rolling ranking, you know how it is, it's just a tough one because your ranking is going to drop. And if you don't play well when you do come back, then you'll be in no man's land in the ranking and pay the price dearly for it. Can you always come back to top 10 or 20? It's not always a guarantee. You have to be very confident in maybe making that decision.


Q. I saw you first winning a tournament when you were 16 years and 8 months in Florence, junior tournament. I'd like to know if you remember most of the finals that you have played in your career. 99 tournaments won. Would you remember something of each finals or each player that you played at least in the finals or probably not? So you don't remember?

ROGER FEDERER: I think I would remember something definitely of finals I did play. I remember the finals in Florence. I still remember how the centre court looked. And it was maybe Filippo Volandri I played in the finals?

Q. Yes.

ROGER FEDERER: You do remember those big-time matches. There is always something about it because it got you nervous or got you thinking.

The hardest are sort of the second, third, fourth rounds, you know, at certain tournaments. So I think those are the ones that you just, you're trying to get by and when you do get by, you're right away the next match comes around and you don't have time to think about that one.

Finals, won or lost, you take it with you to the next – on the trip. So you have more time to think about that one.


Q. One of the other things Nick Kyrgios said in commentary is he thinks you sometimes hit shots deliberately so they will be on a highlights reel later or social media. Are there times you hit a shot and you think, that was pretty good, we'll be seeing a lot of that?

ROGER FEDERER: Not really, no. I think I learned early on in my career that if you're on centre court, just play your game and good shots are going to happen. Because, I don't know, you have worked hard in your game and become fast and athletic and you inevitably have to make good shots. Maybe can make the highlight reel. Looking for them I think is always the wrong take.

I mean, yes, what I do sometimes, and I did it in the third set at one point, is I tried to relax and start playing more drop shots and more serve and volley, even the dissavory ones, just to see how did it feel, what is the opponent going to do. But I don't do it deliberately to make the opponent look bad or to be on the reel.

Because I felt I was like this when I was younger, you know, a teenager coming through on the tour and I was trying to do these great shots on Court 17 and you're like, Nobody cares, nobody cares. You know, you have to be on centre court to hit those.

So that's the mindset I have had for a very, very long time.

AO 2019 - R4 Press Conference  SUN 20 Jan, 2019

> Transcript

Roger Federer 4R interview

Fourth round
lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(11) 6-7(3) 5-7 6-7(5)


Q. Is that a story of not being able to convert 12 breakpoints or something else?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, there is always multiple factors that play into a match like this. But it definitely didn't go the way I was hoping on the breakpoints. I also didn't break him at the Hopman Cup, so clearly something is wrong how I return him, what I'm trying to do. He's doing a good job to defend them.

Nevertheless, it's very frustrating, yeah.


Q. It looked like you were both playing at a fairly high level out there. How do you assess your own performance?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, I think it was okay. I lost to a better player who was playing very well tonight. Hung in there, gave himself chances at some point, stayed calm. It's not always easy, especially for younger guys. Credit to him for taking care of that.

Yeah, I mean, look, conditions also changed throughout the match like every year when you start at 7, go into the night. It gets harder to go through the opponent. Yeah, I thought conditions were definitely a bit slower this year than last year. Didn't allow for as much variation, to be quite honest.

But he did a nice job of taking care of his half volleys. That's maybe what won him the match tonight, I'm not sure.


Q. He's talked about idolizing you. Can you see a bit of yourself in him?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, I guess so. He has a one-handed backhand and I used to have long hair, too. Yeah, so maybe a little bit, sure.

He has more of a continental grip than players nowadays. Sure, that's a bit more my way than, let's say, Rafa's way.


Q. Were you satisfied with the umpire and the lines judges today? A few instances of late calls.

ROGER FEDERER: I mean, look, in tight situations like this, you'll always see tight calls. In tight calls, you'll always see mistakes from time to time. It's human, it's part of the game. I'm not going to start complaining about umpires and line judges. I used to play in the day when there was no Hawk-Eye, there were tons of those. You just move on with it.

No, I think I mentioned it to the Swiss press a few days ago. I think maybe we should consider replaying a situation, you know, when somebody serves, the guy returns, there is a late call or such a late call called by an umpire, if it's really a late call. I feel like sometimes, for instance in the Karlovic-Nishikori match, there was one. I mean, could have cost Kei the match, but it didn't. Good for him.

Sometimes there are very, very close calls, and there's a lot at stake. Maybe you could consider that. But I'm not saying it's no good what we have. I think they did a good job, to be quite honest.


Q. John McEnroe billed this as a changing of the guard. Do you see him being one of the frontrunners of the NextGen to take over the old guard?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, sure. He's in front of the mic a lot. He's always going to say stuff. I love John. I've heard that story the last 10 years. From that standpoint, nothing new there.

About Stefanos, I think he's definitely done a really nice job now the last year and a half. I mean before that, too, obviously. But beating Novak in Toronto, the likes of Anderson and Zverev, now me here. That's what you need to do to get to the next level. He's doing that. It's really nice for him.

I see him definitely being high up in the game for a long time. That was a good night for him tonight.


Q. There was a lot of coverage yesterday of you forgetting your credential heading into the locker room. How conscious are you at this tournament of always being on camera?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it's different times nowadays. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. It's not like we never have anybody taking pictures or videos of us. Now it's just like everywhere all the time. It's hard to find the corner where you can actually sort of relax a bit.

But I can deal with it. It's no problem.


Q. Was there a moment in this match when you felt your game was clicking again, or did it feel it was going to be tough since the first point to the last?

ROGER FEDERER: No, no. I have massive regrets, you know, tonight. I might not look the part, but I am. I felt like I have to win the second set. I don't care how I do it, but I have to do it. Cost me the game tonight.


Q. Serena Williams came out yesterday and said she thought male players should be doing more to lobby for the female players getting equal pay across the board all year round. Do you agree with that statement or do you think they should be looking after their own tour separately?

ROGER FEDERER: Didn't hear about it. Look, I'm very happy that the prize money is all over the place, to be quite honest. When I fought for equal prize money for the men's game, I knew it was a dollar for a dollar also for the women's game going up. I was really, really happy for them. They deserve it. They also deserve it on the other tour, on the WTA Tour. I know they're lagging a little bit. That would be nice to see it going up.

If we can help, great. Sometimes maybe the men's game is a bit more popular, sometimes the women's game. I think we should always help each other as players regardless of who's more popular at the moment.


Q. What do you think about the crowd tonight? A little bit disturbing to you or not?

ROGER FEDERER: Disturbing? It was great. I loved the crowd. I think they were fantastic. That there was an occasional excited guy screaming in the rally, that's okay. I'd rather have it that way than the silent guys who don't make a sound. It was good fun. I enjoyed it.