Federer on Harrison Slight, Davis Cup, Turning 30
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Roger Federer held a press conference via the USTA prior to his debut on the 2011 North American summer circuit next week at the Rogers Cup in Montreal:
Federer on the Canadian fans possibly celebrating his 30th birthday next week:
“Well, it’s not going to affect anything really. Honestly, very often, I did come to Canada, it was my birthday. Canadians always make a big deal about my birthday. It’s not
going to be very different this time around. This time it’s even a bigger one sort of because it’s a round number. But I always like enjoying my birthday I don’t want to say in public, but at a tournament maybe around that time. So for me it’s not something completely different or new. I’m looking forward to turning 30. Excited to see how the Canadians are going to celebrate my birthday this time around. Sometimes they start singing ‘Happy Birthday’ during a match. I’m not going to play on Monday, but you never know if they’re going to do something crazy another day.”
Federer on his current physical state:
“I’m not having any back issues. This time around [getting back into practicing] I didn’t go through any aches and pains except muscle pain in the early stages when I started my practice again. But that’s completely normal. Now I feel really eager to go. I’m almost a bit tired. But with the tired, not too crazy days when I get to Canada, I’m going to be in perfect shape for the tournament to start. I’m in good states [sic]. Do you wish you had more time off sometimes? Yes, you do. It’s in the middle of the season. Two and a half weeks is really plenty of time to work on your game.”
Federer on winning a Slam after age 30 like Rod Laver:
“I think I don’t want to say I’m a special case, but I’ve won so much you feel like if you put yourself in the right position, you do all the right things, you’ll definitely get a shot again of winning any big tournaments, or any tournament really for that matter. I always said, inspiration for guys that play for a very long time, like Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver, it’s very inspiring to see what they’ve been able to do for a very long time. My planning is always in the long-term, as you know. That’s why, yeah, I’m looking forward to see how much I can achieve from this point forward, for sure.”
Federer on American Ryan Harrison saying that Federer plays with a swagger against everyone except Nadal and Djokovic:
“The only reason why I kind of heard about it was because Ryan wrote an apology to my manager to me saying he was misquoted. I like Ryan as a guy, as a player, as a kid. Everything gets blown out of proportion. I think that’s his opinion. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter much to me because I know what I need to do to beat those guys. He didn’t even need to write me a letter, but he did. So that was very nice of him.”
Federer on his goals:
“Well, I think first of all it’s important to stay healthy and see how long the body allows me to play because the mind is there. I love my traveling. I have no problem. That’s a good thing. I still think, because I’ve been so fortunate to be so successful, you just want to get back to those winning ways, get those feelings as many times as possible, trying to win all those tournaments that mean a lot to you, it almost doesn’t matter which one it is. I’ll probably be picking the tournaments I like to play the most at this point because I’ve achieved so much. That’s a very nice situation to be in. It’s important that I work hard, I practice well, I do all the right things. Olympics is obviously part of that. We’ll see how things go in the next years.”
Federer on playing Davis Cup for Switzerland:
“I just played a Davis Cup tie in Bern now. I go tie by tie at this point. I’m looking forward to seeing how I’m going to fit it in the schedule or not. That’s still up in the air. I haven’t decided about Australia yet. I hope I can do that in the next week or so and then go from there really.”
Federer on now having to chase Nadal and Djokovic:
“It’s what it is. I’m aware that Novak had to do something extremely special to get past me. Same thing for Rafa. I think we all had to do something very special to get past each other in the rankings. I think that’s a good thing. If someone wants to become world No. 1, 2, even 3 or 4 for that matter, you have to do something really good. Either you’re extremely consistent or extremely successful at the highest of level. You have to win a massive amount of tournaments. I’m at peace with myself because of it. There’s nothing else I can do. I had my chances to do well or not. From that standpoint, I’m very laid back about the situation. Sure, I’d love to be world No. 1 and not No. 3. I still think No. 3 is a good ranking. It’s not number I don’t know what. I’m at peace with that. Do I approach the tournaments differently? Well, maybe a little bit obviously. I think when you win 90, 95% of your matches you go into a tournament slightly more confident. Other than that, there’s not a huge change because I know my abilities. I don’t want to say I’m overconfident, but I also know what I can do and I also know, how do you say, my limits. Hopeful that allows me to play the best tennis I can each day.”
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