Roger Federer Interview - Hamburg, May 18

Q: Roger, wonderful match. It could have gone either way. Is there a little thing you could have done to change the outcome?

FEDERER: I could have maybe served a little bit better. When I served for the set, the second time where he broke me at 5:1, but I thought, all in all it was allright. It wasn't my best performance, if you get broken so many times there is always something you are a little bit unhappy about. But I think I am finding the right type of play from the baseline. It's up to me to serve maybe a bit better at important stages. And attack maybe a bit more solidly. But it was a fun match playing.

Q: Why do you think there were so much momentum swings. He had seven games in a row and then I think you four games in a row.

FEDERER: I know. We had a similar thing in Monaco. I entered this match thinking it won't be anything like it, because we'll hold serve. It would be much harder to break serve. But then the same thing happened again. It's the way it is, we put a lot of balls into play, and it seems hard to stop both of us.

Q: Considering Roland Garros, are you at the level you want to be?

FEDERER: Yes, I wish I could have won today, then I would have an even better feeling. But I think there is not much of a change. The way the match went today I can also say I feel well, the 3 hours wasn't a problem whatsoever. From a physical standpoint that is a good thing for me. Maybe Rafael struggles a little bit more, because of the stress level of the last few weeks. I just take two days off and I will be in Paris practicing. It's going to be fun next week and then I will hopefully be ready for the tournament.

Q: You attacked in lots of different ways. Do you feel the variety of what you use is increasing?

FEDERER: Yes, I think today particularly. I tried to be aggressive from the backhand side. Before he started to open up much more from the forehand to my forehand. He could do that very much at the beginning. You always have to keep adapting to Rafa. I tried to do that as good as I could. The serve would have helped for sure.

Q: What was the problem with the serve?

FEDERER: Not much. You hope they go. I have to go for big serves. But he is a good return player.

Q: --

FEDERER: First, the problem is to play him on clay. He will break one's serve more than other players. But I don't go into my service games with the feeling that I'm going to be broken. He makes it difficult because he practically doesn't do any return mistakes. He plays with a lot of spin. Since I am the one, who plays aggressive, I usually have the risk on my side. When a game starts badly, it can go really fast sometimes. That is okay. As long as I break his serve enough times, that's okay. I managed to that today, so I'm happy with that. Still, I think that the victory hangs on my racket, because I play aggressively. If I had served better today, who knows what would have happened.

Q: --

FEDERER: I think it's two feelings. For sure, it is a shame that I lost here. At the beginning I had the feeling that it could go fast. If I had won 6:1, I would have played up strongly. But you get over it and honestly, now the focus is already on Paris. It was a nice match and it wasn't funny to lose. Nevertheless, the focus is in Paris now.

Q: He really ran a lot. Is that phenomenal for you?

FEDERER: He did not play more than I did. He lost first round in Rome. So, he had a break there not to be forgotten. Of course, he is still a bit injured but he will get over that. I don't think the match was specially tough for the body. The rallies weren't that long, so it wasn't a problem for me. I don't know how it was for him. He also takes his time between the points in order to recover. That's why his matches are 1 hour and 40 minutes instead of an hour and 20. That's why sometimes it's overestimated.

Q: --

FEDERER: Yes, I watched a bit of the Djokovic an Nadal match. It was interesting. It was good how Djokovic played on clay. I don't play that way, that's why I could not take so much out of it for myself. But you can see that against most of the top players on clay Rafa is mostly the defensive player who needs to run a lot. But he doesn't do a lot of mistakes and can sometimes turn things around and play aggressively. That's why he is so strong. He moves as good as nobody else. That's why he is just the best at the moment.

Q: …

FEDERER: No, he just plays his thing and it is sufficient, good, if not, it's a shame. He always plays with a big margin, always 2 m above the net. That's why he doesn't do a lot of unforced errors. That's why it is easy for him to play that way. But you need incredible legs for that and need to be defensive. And he knows how to do that.

That's why it is a bit difficult. It is an advantage, but if you are down, then it isn't an advantage because he let's the opponent back. That is his problem on hard court. Maybe not as much on grass, because he plays aggressively himself.

Q: --

FEDERER: If somebody starts running on clay, it is difficult to suppress him with winners. That's why he is so successful on that surface.

Q: The impression you had from this week is that it was an ideal tournament. What can the players do to influence the ATP?

FEDERER: No, the times are over. It's in court. A lot of money is involved. We tried as good as possible. Now, it's crunch time and we are quite curios ourselves. The result will come in August. Who knows maybe it will be delayed and then the schedule for next year cannot be done as the ATP is intending. So, I am really curios what will happen during the next couple of months?