Roger Federer: If I Enter A Tournament, I Believe I Can Go Deep

by Tom Gainey | August 30th, 2017, 4:01 pm
  • 3 Comments

Roger Federer shrugged off a slow start by turning it up on 19-year-old Frances Tiafoe, hanging on in the fifth set.

There were extra eyes on Federer Tuesday night because it was the Swiss’s first match since injuring his back at the Canadian Open final. After, Federer admitted that he was cautious with his movement.

“I’m very happy that I’m feeling as good as I’m feeling right now,” Federer said in press. “Honestly, if I would have felt like that going into this tournament that my back was going to get worse every match, I probably wouldn’t have played.


“My hope and my belief is that it’s only going to get better from here because every day that goes by puts me further away from what happened in Montreal. So that’s how I see it.

“I’m very happy how I’m feeling right now, how I felt coming off the court. I think there’s a lot of positives for me to look at, that I can come through a five-setter with the preparation that I had. I was definitely also lucky to play tonight because the rain. Others got all pushed over to tomorrow. So that would have been tougher for me maybe to back it up back-to-back days.

“Look, if I enter the tournament, it’s because I believe I can play and go deep. I still believe that. I think this will actually give me a lot of confidence. In the first set really I was just seeing and feeling it, see how far I could push, but I was never in pain. It was okay. That’s why when I was down a set, I just said, Okay, the match starts here. One set all, Okay, it’s a best-of-three set match. Being in the fifth set, I said, It’s great, I’m still in the match. Things are actually great.”

Despite the win, Federer was broken four times – the same number as he was broken in 7 matches at Wimbledon – and recall he never lost a set in London. But he struggled at times with Tiafoe. Is that just Tiafoe playing well, Federer playing bad or is it the back?

Federer, who is 4-0 in 5-set matches this year, will next face former US Open semifinalist Mikhail Youzhny.


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3 Comments for Roger Federer: If I Enter A Tournament, I Believe I Can Go Deep

Tennis Vagabond Says:

To the last question, all of the above. Fed had a terrible first set. Tiafoe played great. Fed improved, but his movement was quite stiff until the 5th- as if it took him 2 hours to warm up.

His service motion looked stiff, but his return of serve position was back to normal compared to the stand-up position he had against Zverev in Montreal.

Fed’s interviews are pretty meaningless. He holds his cards close to his chest, if he’s feeling pain he won’t tell us.

August 30th, 2017 at 4:12 pm


James Says:

I agree. What players say is rarely the whole truth. He made too many unforced errors, footwork was sloppy sometimes, and yes, back was not as nimble as it usually is. But he wasn’t anything close to how stiff he was in Montreal from the first point.

Since he has a day off after every match here, he might go deep. Today is his pigeon, Youzhny, whom he is 16-0 against, who is also old (35), and played over 3 hours yesterday – couldn’t get any easier. Hopefully he can play himself into better form for the 3rd round.

August 31st, 2017 at 11:01 am


Tony N Says:

Federer has made several avoidable mistakes since after Wimbledon that make me question how serious he really is about winning the US Open (or whether his focus is his company’s Laver Cup). And here is another one…

Less than 24 hours after a sloppy five-set match that brought up a lot of questions about his back, fitness, footwork, mobility, timing and rustiness from lack of practice… the link shows Federer choosing to practise in Manhattan’s Central Park tennis court which are different in speed, condition and material compared to the US Open courts. Seems to me to be milking publicity than making a better effort to focus on winning the US Open… unless he’s super confident about the shape he’s really in (or maybe he knows his back is probably not fit enough to last all seven rounds). Only Federer and his team know the real status of his back, since Federer rarely reveals his actual fitness, just plays through the pain without retiring.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/08/31/hey-isnt-that-roger-federer-playing-tennis-on-a-public-court-in-the-middle-of-central-park/

August 31st, 2017 at 12:09 pm

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