Basel & Paris 2018 Press Conferences / Interviews

PARIS 2018 - Pre-Tournament Press Conference
TUE Oct 30, 2018

> Roger Federer Press Conference In Paris. "Last Week Was Special"

> Rodger Federer : His first press conference | Rolex Paris Masters 2018
(In French)

> ATP Interview: Federer Discusses 100th Title Ambition Ahead Of Paris 2018

> Transcript

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please.


Q. Are you going to play tomorrow? Big question?

ROGER FEDERER: Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here. I would have left.

So, no, I'm happy to play tomorrow. You know, I feel like I recovered well from last week. So yeah, I'll give it a go tomorrow. I'm excited.


Q. So slight follow-up. So thoughts after winning in Basel, you took a rest. What were some of your key decisions on why you decided to come?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, mostly I feel like it's better for me to play matches rather than practice, and I think that's it. And then as long as I don't feel like I'm taking a chance on my health prior to London, that's the key as well.

So here, I have to listen to the signs here this week. But I'm happy how I got through the last four days of playing every day. And, you know, today I feel good. You know, I had a second day off so it's all good.

And tomorrow it's going to be against a big server. It's fairly straightforward, you know, in a way. And then I'll probably, obviously, know a lot more.

But I would rather play matches than practice again, which I would anyway, start practicing, I guess, by tomorrow.


Q. Is the way you fought back in some of those matches in Basel a further sign of encouragement that you were able to do that?

ROGER FEDERER: Do what?

Q. Sorry. The fact that you had to fight back in some of those games was further encouragement for you health-wise and fitness-wise?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, not really. I mean, look, it's definitely a way of winning a tournament for a change. Obviously I have my titles. I didn't win them all outright, straightforward, no problem. I had to fight for a lot of them.

But this one was sort of from the first match till the last match, I was a bit bumpy, but I was happy how I was returning, how I was fighting, how I was trying to figure it out in a different manner.

Yeah, I mean, look, I think I actually started playing better as the tournament went on. It's kind of logical, you know, that you always start feeling better as you go on.

But for me, I don't know. I always want to keep the door open for Paris, and I'm happy I'm here. And like I said, I would rather play on a nice court rather than going back to practice. I've already done enough practice this season. So I feel like if that helps me for London that's a great thing. And I have also not played in this city for some time. That was the excitement today as well to it.

But last week was special to win at home the way I did it, in a different manner. It was a good feeling, no doubt about it.


Q. Can I ask you about Wimbledon's decision to have final set tie-breaks? Kevin Anderson said in here earlier that Wimbledon asked him what he thought about it, and he thought tie-breaks were a good idea but he thought at 6-All. I wonder if Wimbledon reached out to you, and can you tell us what you said you would like to see happen?

ROGER FEDERER: It's done, isn't it? So what's the point? I mean, I don't know. I'm happy to give you my opinion, but, like, it's not going to change anything at all. So it's always a tournament's decision, like the court speed or if they leave the grass this long or not. I mean, at the end, we have no say, and that's okay. I know they try the best for the players any tournament out there.

And now if I give my opinion if it's better at 6-All, 7-All or 20-All or never to do it, it doesn't actually matter. But I do remember them asking me. I don't actually remember my response, to be quite honest, because I think they were debating between 6-All and 12-All. At the end of day, it's their call, so it doesn't really matter what I think.


Q. Historical question. Looking forward to London it's the 10th ATP finals there. Do you remember much about 2009 the first time you went to the O2?

ROGER FEDERER: It's a bit of a blur now because I've been there seven times. But, you know, it was a nice change after Shanghai. You know, similar in the sense of in terms of sort of size of the stadium.

I mean, it was exciting, you know, the whole idea of going down with the boat from the Eye all the way to the O2. And seeing the excitement, as well, that hit London when tennis came to London the second time during the year in a big way.

I loved it, and I thought it was a great choice. I was very happy that the tour decided to go to a place that had a lot of the history with tennis after being in different places many years before that which maybe doesn't have quite the same history like London does.

So that was exciting for me, and personally I was pumped and I thought it was a great inaugural World Tour Finals, what you call it now, at the time.

So I'm still happy we're there, and we'll see what happens in the future. But I'm excited to be back here again this year.


Q. So as a respected peer and friend to Rafa and Novak, have they sought any input from you concerning the Saudi exhibition?

ROGER FEDERER: No. Why would they?

Q. On that subject, were you invited to play in that?

ROGER FEDERER: They contacted me to, yeah.

Q. And what was your response?

ROGER FEDERER: I prefer not to play.

Q. Because?

ROGER FEDERER: Because I don't want to play. It's okay. I'm happy practicing. I'm happy doing other things, and I didn't want to play there at that time. So, for me, it was a very quick decision.


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PARIS 2018 - R3 Press Conference (vs F. Fognini)
THU Nov 1, 2018

> Roger Federer after his victory against Fabio Fognini (in French)

"I served better than him in the important moments and that was somewhat the key of the match... also he didn't start the match very well and that's never a good thing."

> Transcript

R. FEDERER / F. Fognini
6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please.


Q. I hope you have understood that the French public missed you very much.

ROGER FEDERER: The atmosphere was wonderful. I was welcomed. The standing ovation at the end was wonderful as well. I wanted to thank them, to salute them. It was something that is important to me. When you lose, you don't have the mic in the end. I did win. So I had the mic, I could talk to the public.

I've had very intense moments at the French Open and in 2009 as well. Everybody knows that I'm very pleased to do my comeback here. But it is also hard to prove it on the court. And once you have the mic you can actually have a few words for the public.

And it was wonderful to have such a welcome from the French public.


Q. Was it important for you to have such a match today? Are you satisfied with your game level?

ROGER FEDERER: I think it was not that bad. I think that since we didn't have any match together, Fabio and myself, it was actually quite strange. It is important to find the right path.

I served better than him at important moments. This was actually the key of the match. This is the indoor effect. This is what is crucial in a match is who serves better. And it was me today, I think. He didn't start well as well, which is always a bad thing for him.

I was correct as far as I'm concerned.

Q. Playing this week when normally you don't play before London, what could it change in terms of physical preparation with regards to preparing for the final? Is it other things that you don't usually do? Are there things that you will do better?

ROGER FEDERER: Maybe even more now with this winter day, I will not do any fitness before London. Maybe the warming up sessions will be more important before London. Everything has changed as well.

With Raonic pulling out yesterday because it actually gave me an extra day of rest which I needed, because one shouldn't have too many matches in a row like this. And this is how you manage to win today.

And already I'm in quarterfinals, which is good, and you can actually target further, which I will not do, because I didn't have the preparation.

I just stopped thinking about Basel and I'm already in Bercy already. I tried to play this tournament without any pressure to see how it turns out without any expectations. It is a pleasure for me to play at such a tournament for once, because often in the past it's always good to play well because of the rhythm or because you've been preparing yourself for many weeks.

This time, it's different. It's after I won a tournament. I just tried to play as good as I can. If it turns out well, good. If it doesn't, well, too bad. I tried.

And this is good also to play in a relaxed manner for once, to find something in my game that could help me out for London. This is why I'm here.


Q. Regarding Milos' walkover, you said that you needed some rest after Basel. It was a good piece of news?

ROGER FEDERER: It was a good piece of news. I actually had a massage right away because the coach said we're not going to practice this afternoon. So perfect. I'm going to stay here. I'm going to have a massage. I'm going to have a nice dinner, and this is exactly what we did.

So I just had more time to warm up this morning, to practice, and I exchanged quite a lot of balls. I had played quite a bit already. I would have liked to play. I understand the expectations of the public. I won't say it's a drama, but it's not nice for those who had bought the ticket. That's the problem with tennis. You never know how it is going to turn out. Nobody can play in your stead.

So as far as I'm concerned, it was welcome because my body needed it. I needed an extra day and this is what I got. It was a lot of luck. And with the winter day, then it's a double positive effect, if I may say.


Q. You said in Shanghai that you didn't think about being No. 1. Novak is going to be No. 1 on Monday but he doesn't want to rejoice because you're still in the tournament. Do you think that you could end up No. 1?

ROGER FEDERER: I don't even know if I still can, to tell you the truth. I don't know the situation. So I don't know. I didn't come here to win Paris, actually, straight away. Maybe that answers to the question.

My objective is London. If I can do well here in Paris and beat him, all the better. But I'm not there yet. We'll see. We'll just wait and see.


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PARIS 2018 - SF Press Conference (vs N. Djokovic)
SAT Nov 3, 2018

> Press conference : Roger Federer after his defeat against Novak Djokovic

> Transcript

N. DJOKOVIC/R. Federer
7-6, 5-7, 7-6


THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please.


Q. Tough match. How do you feel you played and what do you take away from such a tight match against the new world No. 1?

ROGER FEDERER: I mean, I think the level was good from my side. Clearly I have some regrets. You know, when you lose a close match like this you always have. Wherever they are in the match.

But overall it was a good tournament. I can look back and think it was definitely worth it to come to Paris. The welcome was great. I played some good tennis so I can be happy.


Q. Quite an extraordinary shot in the second set when it hit the net and you somehow managed to get that back. When you talk about your regrets, given the extraordinary level you played at, what would those regrets be?

ROGER FEDERER: Set point, 15-All points, 30-All points. There's a lot when you play over a hundred points in a game. They could be at the beginning of the point or just overall maybe some shot selections. Whatever it is. Sometimes they're bigger and sometimes they're smaller. But they're all around you at all times and you try to make them as few as possible.

But for the most part I can be happy. Losing is never fun, so that's why I guess I have this face right now.


Q. Would you say that your rivalry with Novak has irretrievably changed after Chicago? And how would you describe it now?

ROGER FEDERER: The same. It's intense. It's good tennis. We care about winning. We don't like losing. So I can tell you that right now.

And yeah, it was a fun week in Chicago. I really enjoyed playing doubles with him. I think it was interesting for both of us to see into our minds and into our lives a little bit more.

But I think you saw today it didn't change much, you know, and that was our wish as well. It shouldn't change. I think people enjoy the rivalry. We do as well. So, yeah, it's tough and fair, like the way it's supposed to be.


Q. I'm afraid to point out during the last rally, someone screamed out twice. Did you hear it? Did that affect it?


ROGER FEDERER: Are you asking me because you saw it, my reaction? Yeah, but I think at that point if I win that one I'm still down 6-4 maybe. It's just unfortunate it happens and at the end you lose the point, the match, the rally. You're quadruple frustrated.

It happens. It's good. People are into it. It's all good. It didn't happen for the entire match basically, that the people screamed into the rally. But people were on the edge of their seat, and it's fine. It was just I was like, once, twice. I mean, thank God the rally ended. It would have been like five times maybe if it continued maybe.


Q. You said last night you wanted to come to the match and play like you felt like you had nothing to lose. To what extent do you feel like you accomplished that today? And you have spoken a lot about playing freely. Is that the key for you of playing freely?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, look, sometimes there's only so much you can do on a fast indoor court. You're not going to swing for the fences when you get aced sometimes. You got to first get the racket on the ball. First you got to get the body behind the ball. All of these things matter.

Novak is obviously on a roll. You can feel it. He protects his serve very well. I think I did the same as well. And at the end it came down to a few things here and there.

But overall, you know, I'm happy with my game. It's better than last week in Basel. There I won the tournament and here I played in the semis and it needed somebody of Novak's caliber to beat me. So that's all right.

And I'm looking forward to a rest now and a good preparation for London.


THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.

Q. You may have had some doubts as to how your body would react but it seems that in the end after the end of the week you didn't suffer that much.

ROGER FEDERER: Well, it's especially thanks to Raonic' withdrawal, because five matches in a row is a lot, you know.

But I'm very satisfied with the way I feel now. It's a good thing. I'm not injured. I'm quite happy about that.


Q. At the end of the match, the whole public looked at that encounter and they wondered, Are we going to see you again in Paris? Is it likely for us to see you at the French Open especially?

ROGER FEDERER: No idea if it were the last match. It was a good one actually. I am sorry I lost. Because it's never fun and nice to lose. I don't know. As I said for the French Open, I will decide at the end of the year to see how it will have an impact on my physical training.

Bercy as for next year, it's like every year, it's always difficult. I can't foresee too much in advance but I don't think it will be my last match here.


Q. You came here to test yourself out before the Masters in London. Do you have the answers to the questions that you asked yourself?

ROGER FEDERER: I don't know if I really came here to find answers. Last week, I obtained the title and it gave me a lot of confidence. I saved a lot of breakpoints. I wasn't tense. I wasn't nervous. So I got used to playing matches again. You know, having points after points you get into your cruising speed.

I'm not saying that it is totally different from London. We're going to play against the top 10 at the first round. It's not simple. As I said before, my body is in shape. Mentally I felt tough. So it's a good thing as well. And I did the semis. It's all right already. I can still be satisfied, you know.


Q. It's been a long time now that you haven't won against Novak but you have always won against Rafa. Is Novak a problem for you unlike Rafa on matches like this?

ROGER FEDERER: When you lose 7-6 in the third set, it's not like one or two, you know? This is where everything lies.

They're totally different, you know. And I can answer you not because I just lost, but we know how they are so different one from another. Sometimes it depends on whether you're on a good roll or not. Like when I played against Murray, it was the same thing. If you are having a good momentum it's not the same as if you were on a bad roll.

What I would say on Novak, I always like the rivalry. It's also tactical but it's a different tactical approach than with Rafa. The whole geometry of the court is different because he's left-handed. And that is the case with all left-handed players not only Rafa.

Apart from Cincinnati and now, I can't remember the previous matches we played before we were injured, and then we go back two, four years ago. So I hope that he's won more than lost during this phase because he was No. 1 worldwide. So it's as simple as that.

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