ATP Finals 2017 Press Conferences

> ATP FINALS 2017 - PRE-TOURNAMENT INTERVIEW

> Focused Federer Ready For Nitto ATP Finals

Federer meets the press before making his 15th appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals. :copyright: Getty Images


  ATP Staff

November 10, 2017

Federer set to play fresh faces at the prestigious season-ending event to close out a stellar 2017


It has been a season to remember for Roger Federer, but he hasn’t forgotten: there’s one tournament left and his eyes are on the prize – and beyond.

Arriving at the Nitto ATP Finals for a record 15th time, Federer is looking to cap off his best season in nearly a decade with an eighth title of the year at the prestigious year-ending event. The Swiss superstar, who shut down his 2016 early as a result of injury, came back this season to strike gold at two Grand Slams, three ATP Masters 1000 events and, remarkably, registered a 4-0 record over legendary rival and current World No.1 Rafael Nadal.

“It’s a good achievement,” said Federer of qualifying for the season-ending tournament yet again. “Last year I couldn’t be here, so it’s nice to be able to do it again because this year I had to start farther back in the rankings. My early goal was to be maybe at the halfway point before or after Wimbledon, around 8th in the world.

“By winning the Australian Open I was pretty much in a good position throughout after that, so I was very happy how I played throughout the entire season,” he added. “I’m very happy to be here again and get a chance to compete with the best. It’s always one of the big highlights of the year playing here.”

This upcoming week in London, competition for the 36-year-old is young and hungry for success. First-time qualifiers Alexander Zverev and Jack Sock all grew up watching Federer dominate the tour and have landed alongside him in Group Boris Becker, but for Federer himself, playing against a new wave of top players is hardly novel and he is ready for the challenge they present.

“It’s special, but it’s not tougher.” said Federer, who turned pro just five months after Zverev was born. “I’m used to it by now, playing against young guys ... where I feel it is just that I cannot play 25 tournaments anymore – I mean, I can, but I don’t know what the outcome would be!”

While the focus this week is set firmly on a strong result at the Nitto ATP Finals, which also boasts familiar faces such as Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem and Marin Cilic, Federer has also paid mind to his off-season schedule in preparation for the 2018 season.

His extended off-season last year resulted in an ultra-fit, competition-ready Federer who blasted through draws with an improved and tactically lethal backhand drive, but is there anything special up his sleeve for the next training block?

“Not really,” said the Swiss, frankly. “I don’t have anything going on for now, just preparing for December: who to practise with almost on which days. I know when I’m going to return to practice, I know where I’m going to train ... all these things are all set.

“Then for the game itself, that’s something I’d have to discuss with Severin Luthi and Ivan Ljubicic, just moving forward what we should maybe work on,” he added. “But right now I think we’re in the focus of just finishing this season in a good way.”

ATP Finals 2017 - RR1 Press Conference (Nov. 12)

> Video

Roger Federer wins opening match at ATP Finals


(11:41)

   AK - Published Nov. 13, 2017
The 19-time Grand Slam champion broke Jack Sock at the start of his 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory at the O2 Arena. Both then held serve the rest of the way, with Federer losing only three points on his serve in the second set.

See transcript below for the full presser.

> Transcript

NITTO ATP FINALS

London, England, UK
Sunday, November 12 2017

Roger FEDERER / Jack Sock (RR1)
6-4, 7-6


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Do you feel this was an ideal start for you in this tournament or do you think there's still many places higher for you to go?

ROGER FEDERER: In terms of the level?

Q. Yes.

ROGER FEDERER: I mean, I think we're all going to start playing better every round that goes by, you know. It's just still early days in the tournament. Can't expect to play your best against the best players in the world in that first match.

I think, like I explained on the court in the interview, it was more about managing the match rather than actually having a certain way how you play and what you were really thinking about.

Sure, I had a tactical plan with my team. But very often in a first match like this, it gets thrown overboard because at the end you're just happy to be serving well. Focus on that first, and then on the return game sort of try your best, try to keep the ball in play, and go from there.

I think that's the difficulty in a first round usually at any tournament. Here it's amplified because it's against a fellow top-10 player. It just makes things really, really difficult sometimes.


Q. After the final in Basel, you said you felt your body was asking you for a break. Are you happy with the way you recovered these two weeks? How do you feel?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, took me long time to recover really, to be honest. I had a very slow week the Paris week. But also, other than the charity match, the Andy Murray Live match in Scotland, I also didn't do that much. The last sort of Thursday, Friday - especially Friday, Saturday, sorry - were my more intense days. Other than that, I didn't do much.

I'm happy that I was able to come out today and had actually good energy. This is the best I've felt since the del Potro finals. I'm very happy to see that I didn't have to pay the price for taking it easy, you know, resting, recovering. But then turning it up the last few days got me in shape for today.

Now I think I'm in the tournament. Now there's no more turning back. Just full steam ahead every match that comes.


Q. How many times has an opponent turned around to present his backside to you as you're running to the net? And how much of a distraction was that?

ROGER FEDERER: It was a big distraction, I'll tell you that, because it was very big (laughter). That's what I should have aimed for. That target was bigger than the down-the-line court that I had.

It's happened sometimes in the past, but not on a big stage like this.


Q. Usual question whenever we start this tournament. What do you think about the playing conditions? And what happened to that kilt?

ROGER FEDERER: So playing conditions. From what I was told, they changed the speed last year a little bit. I do feel it's a bit faster than in previous years.

Don't think it's a bad thing, because we did see some very one-sided matches in the past. Don't know what the reason was, if it was just a fluke that it happened to be that way or actually just that the better baseliner just really outplayed the other.

I think by having a faster court like we saw today, maybe I also was the better player on the day today, but I missed some opportunities in some crucial moments on the breakpoints. Ended up paying the price for it. Going into a breaker, you don't know what's going to happen.

I think it's going to keep the results closer to one another. It's going to be tougher to break. I do believe if you protect your serve well here, you're in good shape. You can free swing better maybe on the return.

The kilt? We're not in Scotland any more, so the kilt gets put in the closet really for the time being (smiling).


Q. Speaking of the kilt wearing, just wondering what your considered impression, being at the opposite end of the court from Andy, how you thought he was, the power and the pace, his movement?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, first, it was a great feeling to be on a court again with him. I've missed him. Like I said at the press conference there, it was a great experience in Glasgow to do something good for other people, other charities with a legend of the game. I love teaming up. I think we could do more of it. It's just always tough to have those exhibitions organized, and where you place them in the calendar year because there's tournaments from January to November. It's just always packed. That was a nice thing to do.

In terms of Andy, I thought, considering that he has been totally out of the spotlight, I think in some ways it was a brave move for him to just put himself out there, give it a go. Nobody really knew how he was doing. It would have been easy for him to just say, You know what, I'll have somebody else play. Tickets are sold out. Roger is coming. I can make somebody else play Roger maybe. It will be still maybe a successful story.

I think the fans were excited to see Andy play. He got great support, which I was happy to see in my rival's home country. To see him getting this much support was beautiful.

I was actually happy how he was playing. Definitely he can move better, he can serve better. We know all these things. For a start, I think it was actually quite encouraging and actually okay.

He still has a lot of time before Australia comes around, but only he knows at what level he wants to return to competition. But I thought he was actually pretty good. I didn't expect him to be this good yet.


Q. When you decided not to play Paris, you took yourself out of contention for the year-end No. 1 ranking. Rafa got that trophy today. Is there a small part of you that wished it was still on the line here? How did you get to the decision to not use that as a factor?

ROGER FEDERER: No, I was supposed to do the Sky interview afterwards, and they wanted to talk to me about the tactical element of the match. The Rafa trophy presentation was going on.

They said, Is it okay to wait?

I said, Well, yeah, I better wait because this is a big deal. This is a huge thing.

All the players were playing for maybe world No. 1. He was better throughout the year. He played more tournaments. He was incredibly successful throughout. So, no, I don't have any regrets because I feel like in my stage of my competition, my age, either it comes to me or it doesn't.

He had more, you know, gas left in the tank than I did. I couldn't play as much as I've wanted, or I overplayed anyway. My only regret was I would have loved to be in contention through the Montreal finals, Cincinnati, US Open. But things evaporated very quickly after he won the US Open. That's when he made his final push, was in Asia. That was it for me really.

In some ways I'm happy he clinched it because he deserves it. And like this, I can focus on playing the tournament, and not having to talk about that at the same time.

But, sure, I would have loved to be it, but you can't be it with that many tournaments, so it's no problem for me.


Q. Rafa said here the other day one of the reasons he thinks why he's never won this title is because it's never been played on clay. Do you think it would be fair if maybe just one year this tournament was played on clay?

ROGER FEDERER: 'Fair'? I'm not sure if it's the right word. But I think it's right and fair that it's indoors, as well. There is no Masters 1000s on grass. There is one Masters 1000 indoors: Paris. So I feel like indoors also deserves its place, you know.

Could it be switched up to clay once in a while? Yeah, maybe. Could we have more 1000s on grass? Yeah, we could have that, too. Could we have less on clay, more or hard courts? Could we have more or hard courts, less on clay? Yes, it's all debatable.

I think it's not the time of the year for clay, so there you have it (smiling). You can do indoor clay, I guess, but that's a bit silly. But I get his point, and it's a fair point.


Q. Several of the guys that are playing with you here this week were also involved in the Laver Cup. You had a great atmosphere. Have you felt that mood has carried over here like in the players lounge? Have you picked up any special insights from the Laver Cup week that carried into this tournament?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, the player restaurant, I was the only guy with Jack today because the other guys were practicing at other times. But I see what you're saying.

Yeah, no, I do feel like the Laver Cup has made us get to know each other a bit better. I mean, we have each other's telephone numbers now, all of us. That wasn't the case beforehand. We anyway knew we'd see each other all the time, so it's nice to kind of be able to connect if you wanted to with the guys.

I felt like at the ATP ceremony and the official presentation, I did feel a sort of camaraderie, cool rivalry, but yet friendship going on, which I think is nice to see. We are all together on the boat. We're all hanging out, all talking to each other. I'm not sure if that was always the case in previous years.

It's not that we didn't get along, but we didn't know each other that well, to be quite frank. I see good things being carried over by the Laver Cup without forgetting at the end of the day we are rivals, as well, you know.


Q. Can you say a few words about Severin, what makes this relationship so special. Does he get the tribute that he deserves publicly because he's never won an award like Coach of the Year or something?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, it's only been for two years that we have that award. But, yeah, I do believe he doesn't get the credit he deserves because he doesn't speak to you guys or the press very often. He didn't want to do it for years. He doesn't want to polish up his reputation. He's there trying to help me as much as possible.

He's a great friend, especially a great coach for me, otherwise he wouldn't be on the team. If he was just a friend, I think he would do work. As a coach, he's really valuable to me. He knows my game very well. He knows my practice sessions very well. He knows what I need to work on. He knows what makes me happy and sad. He knows my team members very well. So he's crucial to the team.

But I do believe that he doesn't get the credit he deserves, yes.

Transcript by ASAP Sports

ATP Finals 2017 - RR2 Press Conference (Nov. 14)

NITTO ATP FINALS

London, England, UK
Tuesday, November 14 2017

Roger FEDERER / Alexander Zverev (RR2)
7-6, 5-7, 6-1


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. You said on court you were playing freely. How important is that for your chances this year?

ROGER FEDERER: Did I say I'm playing freely (smiling)? Okay, maybe I said that.

Well, in some ways I feel like it's been a season where playing freely has served me well. In the bigger moments, I try to smile on the inside and think, you know, like it's all good. I was getting a bit frustrated with some of the shot selections at 5-1 in the third. I'm talking to myself, saying, What am I even getting upset about? I'm leading 5-1 in the third. I'm one game away from qualifying in the semis. You want to get upset? There's zero reason for that.

I think it's important sometimes to remind myself that it's all good, you know. Today I wish I could have played a bit more freely. Maybe that's what I meant on the court. I was playing a lot of defense, trying to keep the ball in play. It made me work really hard in defense. That's something I haven't done so much this season because I've always, you know, been on the accelerator, trying to install my pressure plays, trying to take charge.

But today was difficult. Still early days in the tournament. It was nice to be able to show maybe that quality of mine, that I can dig out these matches, these points time and time again, stay mentally tough. In the third I started to play better. It was a tough match from the beginning till the end.


Q. Obviously the guy has a huge talent. But those Swiss knife short, slow slices, which is the obvious tactic against someone so tall, you seemed to dismantle his forehand. What were your tactics going in?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, you're never quite sure. I think I was able to read his forehand this time better than Montreal, where he had a lot of winners forehand and backhand. It was also different types of conditions. It was outdoors. It was warm. Day session. Harder to see the ball, to be honest. So I just think I wasn't quite reading his plays very well in Montreal, anyway, for a set and a little bit until I hurt my back.

But today I think I was able to stay the course and, you know, use my slice quite effectively, then try with variation to go into his forehand.

But, you know, you can't always do it because the plays don't always allow you to do it. I wasn't doing a good enough job, to be quite honest, into his backhand with my backhand. I was always checking out of the backhand-to-backhand battles, switching it up to the forehand. I would like to stay more with him backhand to backhand.

Like I said, you know, there was a lot of chipping going on on the return. I would have liked to stay more aggressive on my return, at least, and something could have happened.

But I felt like, especially in the first set, I was going through phases where I was hardly making any returns. That's something I was not going to accept. I was going to rather lose by making a lot of balls and maybe give him a chance at least to miss rather than just giving him empty free games time and time again.

So I think it was a tough match, you know, I think for both of us. We had some good moments, some tougher moments. I mean, he blew the first set tiebreak. Got lucky to get into it maybe. I was up a set and a break. So I was frustrated that I didn't win the second set.

At the end probably being in the third set for both of us was maybe a fair result, I'm not sure.


Q. I think in the second set you were muttering to yourself more and more.

ROGER FEDERER: What was I doing?

Q. Talking to yourself angrily more and more. We've forgotten this side of you because you keep it under control. Was there any reason you felt like you needed to talk to yourself more than you usually do?

ROGER FEDERER: I felt like I lost my ways a little bit in the second set, especially being up a set and a break. But because I did so much work in defense, I forgot how to play normal offense. Like I said, it was still early days in the tournament.

I just think it's hard for anybody right now to hit winners off the ground. We see it. It's tough. With Thiem, Dimitrov, they struggled. Rafa and David. It's not so simple just to stretch the lead all the time.

I think the court, because it's a bit faster, it just keeps guys closer to one another. You have to be extremely careful on your service games. You could be up 30-Love, you lose, I don't know, a relaxed point to where you think, Let me quickly sneak in a quick point to go 40-Love. You lose that point, double-fault, 30-All. All of a sudden you're in trouble. All he needs is one good return and things are terrible.

I think that was bothering me that I wasn't able to play better, but at the same time I was happy I was in the lead in some ways. So I just think still fighting those early stages of rhythm problems I'm feeling from the baseline. But, look, I'm really hoping and believe I'm going to play better in my third match.


Q. The year-end rankings are probably going to suggest that Zverev is the best of the young players. Do you think he's also the best in terms of potential upside?

ROGER FEDERER: From the guys who are here?

Q. Plus others perhaps. Kyrgios maybe. Potential upside?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, look, I like what I'm seeing with Sascha. I see somebody who is working towards the future. I think, yes, of course it's really important right now to have success. He had that with two massive wins in Rome and Montreal. I mean, that's going to protect his season anyways. The rest sort of is all a bonus.

What I like to see is I feel like they're working towards how he could be playing when he's 23, 24 years old in terms of fitness, planning, organization, all these things. I think that's nice to see.

Now, the future? The thing is it seems like they need a bit more time, the young guys in general, to break through these days. Even though I'm really happy to see that there is the likes of Shapovalov or Nick, now also Zverev, making the move early, like what Rafa and Andy did, Novak, Lleyton, all these guys. They were such great teenagers.

I do see a great upside from all these three guys. What I like about Zverev is he's got the full package. He's already 3 in the world. I think he's going to leave the World Tour Finals, regardless if he qualifies for the semis or not, with a lot of information.

I think the last six months of the season gave him everything he needs to work forward to. Then, of course, he's only going to get stronger from here. That should be very encouraging for him and his team.


Q. A comment on Rafael Nadal's retirement. Also, 12 of the top 20 players this year had long and serious injuries. Do you think it's a pure coincidence, length of the season, too many slow cement courts, heavy balls? What would you suggest to change the trend, if you think it should?

ROGER FEDERER: Shave 10 years of our age, and we probably will do better (smiling).

A lot of the guys are just touching 30 plus, you know. Back in the day, at 30, a lot of guys were retiring. Edberg, Sampras, it was like normal at 29, 32, to start looking towards the end of your career. Now you guys expect everybody to play till 36. When somebody is injured at 31, it's like, Oh, my God, how is this possible?

Actually, it's a normal thing. If either you retire or you take a sufficient break so when you do come back you maybe have another few years left again because you really made sure your rehab is good.

So I think for the most part it's age, coincidence. In the other guys, let's say Nishikori, Raonic, wrist, I don't know what they have. Wrist to me is not something that comes from overplaying, especially if it's your left hand. That's just a move I can't relate to because I don't play double-handed. From what I've been told, the wrist is always in a troubled position with that flicking that's going on more and more these days.

I think Andy even broke his wrist. Maybe that was something else, I'm not sure. Del Potro has had three of them. I think these things tend to happen.

The season has been the same for many, many years, as we know. I think just when you get older, you maybe have to manage your schedule maybe a little bit differently. But some guys, they just go maybe all out for 15 years, and they do it until you sort of break down, then you just reset.

I think you can't put them all together. But for the most part I think most guys are touching 30, so that has a big role to play.


Q. When you're talking of age, looking at recovery, this week you have a day off between matches, but as you move into your 30s, are you more aware of the things you do on your off days? Are you aware of taking time off your feet? Does that differ from when you were younger?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I'll take a day off tomorrow. I probably didn't do that back in 2005 in Shanghai during the World Tour Finals. I would probably go practice somewhere, somehow, just because you're supposed to be hitting.

But I know my game's not going to disappear if I take a day off. Actually, it's quite nice to be able to do that, and having the confidence in your level of play that you can actually keep that up.

So I think I actually have to work less today than I used to. When I do, naturally I do it with quality because I know every practice counts, every fitness counts, every session matters.

So I definitely see things a bit different. But I wasn't even thinking about taking a day off tomorrow, but Severin and Ivan told me, You should take a day off.


Q. I also meant time off your feet, that kind of thing.

ROGER FEDERER: Well, it's definitely different to 15 years ago. I would go play squash sometimes on my off days. Then you're like, Hmm? Wonder why you're so tired in the semis (smiling). How come you have a groin problem all of a sudden? Playing too much soccer maybe on the grass.

These things don't happen any more. I'm not skiing any more like I used to until 2008. So, yes, especially with sports, honestly, I've cut back completely since 2008, since I had the mono. But then the kids keep me busy. I don't have one, I don't have two, I have four. I don't want to be just lying on my couch, as well. But they also have to be a little bit careful that sometimes I don't overdo it.

I like my time with my kids, and I can't control myself other than just to play with them, as well, and go outside.


Q. You know Grigor Dimitrov off the court quite a bit. He says he feels completely different now in his place in the top 10 compared to when he did it the first time. From you knowing him, have you noticed anything different on and off the court now that's making him perhaps more solid?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I would think he's just more comfortable this time around. He feels probably he belongs there, he deserves his place there. It's like when you get older, you feel like you've had to work for it. The first time around, it's like, it just happened. Oh, wow, cool. I know I worked hard, but probably others have worked harder than me.

I don't want to say you don't feel you deserve to be there sometimes, unless you're 3 in the world, you go deep into the top 10. If you just touch it at No. 8, No. 9, you feel like everybody looks at you, depending on your ranking, that week. The next week, if you're 11, you think the other guys look at you differently, even though it doesn't matter at all.

We are very much ranking conscious early on in our life. Maybe this time he's like, Okay, I'm 6, 7, whatever he is now, and he feels, Well, I'm in there for a while, I will be for a while, so maybe I can relax more.

He's always had fun on and off the court. So I think he just feels probably more confident in this whole thing. I went through the same situation, to be quite honest. Through success, I calmed down a little bit and felt like I knew myself and knew my place better.


Transcript by ASAP Sports

ATP Finals 2017 - RR3 Press Conference (Nov. 16)

Roger Federer Press Conference before Semi-Final | Atp Finals 2017






NITTO ATP FINALS

London, England, UK
Thursday, November 16 2017

Roger FEDERER / Marin Cilic (RR3)
6-7, 6-4, 6-1


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. For a moment you could have lost that match, but you won. It was a good exhibition?

ROGER FEDERER: Good question (smiling).

No, it wasn't easy. It wasn't easy. I mean, look, it's a fast court. It's indoors. We've seen it now: when you miss a few too many opportunities, uhm, you can really pay the price at this tournament. So we've seen some swing of momentums in a lot of the matches this week.

I think in the beginning I was slightly overaggressive in the first set on some crucial points rather than maybe being patient. I was able to turn that around, you know, late in the second set. Then just had a much better feeling in the third set.

Maybe also Marin's level dropped, I'm not sure. But definitely was dangerous there for a while, you know, being down a set and breakpoints beginning of the second set.


Q. I don't want to remind you of bad memories, but Pierre-Hugues Herbert stuck his back at practice today. He has a Davis Cup Final coming up. You have been in the same situation a few years ago. How do you deal when you're medically injured a week before a big event?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I saw him. He said he's doing the same preparation like me back in 2014. So I wish him a speedy recovery.

I mean, what can you do? Time is of the essence here. He's got a little bit more time than what I had because he's looking at playing doubles, so that's a day later. Plus it's not Saturday, it's Thursday, so that's a difference, too. That gives him more days there.

But I think probably for him to have a chance to be on the team, he needs to be somewhat in a good shape Monday, Tuesday to give Yannick the information that he needs.

The good thing for the French team is that, like, if he doesn't play, they have a good backup in Benneteau or somebody else. But, of course, he wants to be there. So it's about rehabbing, treatment, antiflammatories [sic], whatever it takes to get better.

I guess for me it was important to play that Friday first singles against Monfils, even though I wasn't 100%. But at least it gave me information and it gave me confidence in my back and my body that I could play again maybe better every single day. Actually ended up playing really good on Saturday and Sunday.

But I think the team also picked me up. You know, Severin, Stan, the rest of the guys, they made me feel like, As long as you're improving every day, that's all we care about.

I remember days were long because you don't suddenly get better overnight. It takes a bit of time. They were very supportive. It all worked out. I hope the same for him.


Q. You competed against many generations from Masters Cup Shanghai to this ATP Finals, Agassi, Hewitt, Rafa, Novak, Nishikori and Zverev. Did you get any inspiration from many generations?

ROGER FEDERER: Yes. Look, in the beginning it was like being a kid in a candy store, sharing the locker room with legends of the game, seeing them prepare, being able to practice with them, playing doubles with or against them. Special times.

You know, when you come out on the tour later on, it's different. You know, you play for different reasons. Like you said, you play the next generation, but now you're the older guy and they're the younger guys. It takes some getting used to.

But I enjoy it now in a different way. I think it was more exhilarating when I was younger because everything was new, it was fresh. I didn't know. It was the unknown. And today I know most of it, you know.

I'm very calm. But there's a deeper understanding what I'm going through. So maybe the satisfaction is when I do win and I do show up at the best tournaments in the world, like here, I know it's not normal maybe to be here, so I appreciate it actually maybe even more so now at this age.


Q. Whatever happens this weekend, you'll finish a very small number of points behind Nadal in the year-end rankings. Is there a small regret you didn't play one or two more tournaments this year, or was your schedule absolutely what it had to be?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, no. Regrets, I don't have any. But maybe losing to Tommy Haas and Donskoy ended up haunting me. I had match points in both matches. It's not like I didn't try.

To have regrets because of these matches, you know, if I miss out because of that for world No. 1, then maybe I was unlucky. But I also did win matches in Miami, saving match points against Berdych, other matches throughout the season that it could have been gone either way as well. In Australia, Nishikori. You name it. Things could have turned very quickly much earlier.

So I'm just happy I'm playing a great season. I'm so happy that I was able to reach this level of play and still being able to play also at the end of the year. It wasn't just, like, one tournament at the beginning, then nothing after that. So it was just throughout I've had a great year.

I have no regrets because I totally over-exceeded my expectations. Just happy I'm injury-free and healthy right now, enjoying myself still.


Q. You talked the other day about next year's schedule. You said that all options are on the table. Looking a bit further ahead, if you want to play Tokyo 2020, if you do...
ROGER FEDERER: Okay (smiling).

Q. ...you would have to play two Davis Cup ties at some point. Have you thought at all about when you might schedule these in?

ROGER FEDERER: No, I haven't. I didn't even know the rule, so thanks for the information (laughter).

I haven't officially retired from the Davis Cup, so not because of that reason. It's just because it's always highly unlikely that I'll play at this stage of my career.

You know, I haven't set Tokyo Olympics as a goal either. It hurt not being in Rio, but I was okay without it, too. I was flag bearer twice. I won gold. I won silver. I feel like I achieved a lot of great things at the Olympics.

I'm not thinking that far ahead, yeah.


Q. In the same sense of one of the last questions, you said you don't have no regret. Is it in your mind the possibility of finishing very near to Rafa, and to start strong next year, maybe have a possibility of assaulting the No. 1?

ROGER FEDERER: I have 2,000 points to defend in Australia, he doesn't. So there's the problem already. I know he has a lot of points to defend, too, in Australia, but not as many as me.

That's why I always said, look, it's not a realistic goal in some ways, you know, world No. 1. It is interesting. It's the ultimate achievement in tennis in some ways, it always has been for me. But at this age, it just can't be because I think I'll make mistakes if I start chasing it. I'm not sure how much the body allows me to chase goals like this. Maybe if I start thinking about it too often and too much, I think I'm maybe also not playing the way I'm supposed to be playing, maybe I tense up, maybe I'm nervous, maybe that's not good for my back. Who knows what it is.

Still far away from being close in the points with Rafa. Still need to win this tournament before it's actually really close. I'm only in the semis. The big points are really coming in now. So that's why my focus is on the semis. If I would win that, of course it's just on the finals.

The year played out the way it did, and Rafa was better. He deserves to be there. I'm really happy for him because he had a rough season as well in '16. It's great for him.

Then in Australia, I just hope to be fit again, to walk out on Rod Laver Arena and hopefully defend my title. But still very far away at this point.


Q. Another Davis Cup question, if you don't mind. The final is coming.

ROGER FEDERER: Okay, about that is fine (smiling).

Q. With the final coming up next week, what are your thoughts on France against Belgium? Who do you think will win and why?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, the French are favorites just because they got a lot of depth in the team. Belgium, you know, they have a good team, as well, but it's not quite the same like when Stan and myself came to Lille back in '14. I think it's really in the French team's hands, you know, to win or to lose.

I'm not sure exactly the court speed, what they chose at the end of the day. I heard it's indoor hard, so that's different. It's a great stadium. Really thought the atmosphere was something else when we played there.

Yeah, I mean, haven't thought about it too much yet, to be honest. But, you know, Goffin clearly needs to win his two singles matches to have any chance to go through.


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ATP Finals 2017 - SF Press Conference (Nov. 18)

Roger Federer "I am very happy for Goffin"- ATP Finals 2017 (HD)





NITTO ATP FINALS

London, England, UK
Saturday, November 18 2017

David GOFFIN / Roger FEDERER (SF)
2-6, 6-3, 6-4


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I understand it's difficult, but can you try to explain what happened after you won the first set. Was it him, you, both?

ROGER FEDERER: Uhm, yeah, I mean, I think it was a tough game to get broken at 1-0, I think it was, for him in the second. I had I think multiple game chances to get out of the game and go 1-All, keep the pressure up.

I think I didn't serve as accurate as I should have. In that very moment he connected well on a few returns to keep him in the game. I think in hindsight that was maybe a bit of a key moment in the match.

I think things really turned around for him at that moment. He started to feel better from the return, from the baseline. He wasn't missing as much any more. He was returning also much better off the second serve after that.

Yeah, then I just think he raised his game. I couldn't follow any more. Maybe my game dropped naturally a little bit because he was playing better. Maybe never really reached my best level because the first set was all right, you know. But he didn't play very well in that set, I don't believe.

Yeah, so it's pretty disappointing. But at the end he did play extremely well, and he was the better player on the court. I feel like it's okay like this, you know, for him to win.


Q. David said yesterday that he had a plan for playing you slightly differently this time compared with the six previous losses. Did you feel he did change things up a bit this time, had a different approach?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, he played better. That was a good plan (smiling).

It's that simple. I didn't feel like you could do that much different things on this court, you know. If you told me that he was going to play way back in the court and roll the ball up and try things like this, then it's really a big change. Other than that, I didn't feel a big difference to previous times.

He struggled for the first set and a bit anyways. So I just think he was able to raise his game. Maybe I helped him doing it, maybe not. But, look, I just think the better returner won over the better server today.

It's a bit disappointing for me because it's indoors, it's a court I like to play on. But I had my chances and missed them. When he had them, he was very committed. I think that was the difference today.


Q. Obviously today is a big disappointment, but could you sum up your whole season, how you feel looking forward to next season, what your main goals are.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it's been an amazing year for me. Been so happy that I was playing at this level from the beginning till basically the end, till today. So it's been great. Really enjoyed myself in the process.

I felt I was, you know, playing in a way that I also, you know, like - you know, playing forward, playing attacking tennis. I wish I could have done that a little bit more today. It's kind of disappointing to finish on this note. But whatever happened today is less important than if I look at the entire season. With that season, I'm extremely happy.

Looking ahead, look, clearly the buildup is not going to be six months like it was last time around. It's not going to be six weeks of tennis. It's just going to be two, three weeks. It's going to be short. But I did that 15 years previously, so I know how to handle the buildup.

Then I'm just looking forward to some time off now, away from the match court, away from the pressure, then hopefully play well in Australia. I can't wait to play there again. I had the best time of my life this year, so can't wait to go back there.


Q. We're used to seeing you raise the level in the big matches. Are you surprised the base game didn't click right away or did you feel it coming this week because of the surface, your game?

ROGER FEDERER: No, I'm not that disappointed that I wasn't able to raise it because I just felt like I was never quite feeling it 100%. I think that's also where maybe the frustration came in the previous matches.

I still believed that I was going to be able to lift it. Maybe if David wouldn't have, you know, been able to lift his game, I would have found a way to win today. Then who knows what happens again in the finals, give myself one more opportunity against a different type of player.

So, uhm, look, it is what it is now. There's no need to dwell over it, especially when it's the last match of the season.

I wish I could have played more aggressive today, but just never really felt comfortable taking the ball on. Started with the return, started with the first shot after the serve. There was never like this simple 1-2 punch, return, first strike. I never got 100% comfortable with it throughout the entire tournament.

Regardless, I still played a good tournament, if I consider.


Q. You know David pretty well. Sorry to ask you, but do you feel that he can go till the end with this game?

ROGER FEDERER: In this tournament, you mean?

Q. Yes.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, of course. Otherwise he wouldn't be in the finals. I hope he didn't just beat me for fun and then to roll over in the finals.

Clearly I believe he's got a chance. Again, totally different match. It's really difficult to back it up after you beat someone like Rafa. We saw it in the next match. Somebody like me, it's the same situation. It's just a different match, a different atmosphere. But he's crushed me too many times in practice not to do it also once in a match situation.

No, look, I'm very happy for him. He's a great guy. I like him a lot. I think today he played so nice that he deserves to be in the finals. That's what I told him at the net, as well. I hope he can play a good finals tomorrow.


Q. Away from the match, I just wanted to ask you this question before the end of the season. How do you react to the fact that Nike your equipment supplier has developed some strategies to avoid paying taxes?

ROGER FEDERER: It's not the moment at the last press conference of the season. I don't know anything about it, so...


Q. How will you rate your health body situation?

ROGER FEDERER: The health?

Q. How would you rate your health situation after the season and through the whole season, your back, your knee?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, knee's no problem at all. Back was just in Montreal. Then there was this phase of, you know, finally feeling confident again, getting stronger and stuff. Took a little longer than I thought it would take, to be quite honest because I didn't feel it coming in a brutal way in Montreal.

I mean, when it happened, look, it was sore, it was bad, didn't allow me to play any more properly. Maybe should have been better to stop, not make it worse. But I don't think I made it worse just by finishing the match. It happened at the very end of the match, the beginning of the second, I thought I was okay. Faster, but it took actually quite some time.

Even after New York still, I still did feel it. So I'm actually very relieved that I was able to finish strong now in Shanghai, Laver Cup, Basel, now here again as well. It shows that things are in the past now. It's good to know that I can bounce back, you know, and get my confidence back.

Other than that, I didn't have many problems other than I had sort of a groin issue after the Australian Open that I played on for probably about 10 days of the tournament. But then again, when I rested, I came to Dubai, I was okay again.

So considering how last year went, this year was perfect (smiling).


Q. You touched on Australia. How long will you give yourself total break, not do anything? When will you really start working for Australia?

ROGER FEDERER: I'll probably take two weeks off, two weeks' vacation. I feel like it's what we always need at the end of the season, not just myself, but my wife as well, and my kids, too. We all need to spend some family time together. We love that. Most important time of our lives, to spend the time together like that.

After that, I'll start the beginning of December my training again. Maybe on vacation, obviously I'll start moving around a little bit so the comeback into training is not so hard, you know. Then I leave at the end of the year for the Hopman Cup to get ready. I think I'm playing on the 30th, my first match. That's the plan there.


Q. You said yesterday you were confident. The level of David, does it surprise you today?

ROGER FEDERER: No, because I know how well he can play, you know, in practice. In practice I've gone through phases where, you know, I've seen this level before like today. It's just that in practice, my level is not normally as high as in a match. So then I allow him to play better. But I know, too, what level he can raise his play, especially on the return side.

If you're not moving your legs, if you can't hurt enough from the baseline, you can find yourself in all sorts of trouble. When he starts feeling it, like any good baseliner, it becomes very tricky sometimes. If you can't wrestle away sort of -- if I can't come with the power any more, it's difficult, you know, because he's fast and so forth.

So that's why I'm not surprised, to be quite honest.


Q. You obviously made a fantastic comeback this season, having taken time off at the end of last year. What do you expect from Stan and Novak and Andy? Are you expecting them to come back strongly or is it going to be a slow process?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, you always got to expect a slow process. Then if it goes fast, that's great.

Look, we all had to take a time off. I didn't choose to take the time off last year. You make me look like a genius sometimes. You take time off, you come back, you're good again. That's not how it goes.

I think if we could have played, we all would have played. So it's not like by choice that we probably did this, or I'd say maybe -- I don't know. I think we all couldn't play. That's a problem to start off with.

Coming back is always a challenge for the body. It's a challenge for the team because you got to be extremely patient yet positive. Not so easy, you know, in some instances.

Yeah, so I expect obviously from the likes who have been extremely high up in the rankings, who have won slams, like Stan, Andy and Novak, of course I expect greatness from them. When they return at some stage, not maybe from the very beginning. But I wouldn't be surprised if it worked out for them as well like it worked out for me. And Rafa, so...

The others, I have no idea exactly what's problem is. I hope also Kei, Thomas and Milos all find their way back on tour and prefer to be in Australia because that would make it quite epic, comeback for all the guys. Then you mix them together with the new guys from the World Tour Finals here who have just come off a great year, obviously are confident, want to stay in the top 10, want to make the World Tour Finals again. They are sort of weaving their way in. Not so fast, guys, we also want to make it. You have the young guys coming through.

I think it could be a very cool start to the year, which I'm really looking forward to.

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