2009 法網冠軍賽後訪問 - 羅傑·費德勒 Federer

R. FEDERER/R.Soderling

6-1, 7-6, 6-4

An interview with:

ROGER FEDERER

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. We would like to know if you felt more suspense than we felt? You won the
first set, second set in the tiebreaker, third, set break immediately. So for
you it was easier than you expected,or...

ROGER FEDERER: I mean, sure, I expected a tough match today obviously because
Robin's been playing well and it's a final of Paris, one thatI've never been
able to win yet.

So I knew the difficulty of this match. I was hoping for a good start; I got
it, which then obviously relaxed me. I think second set was key to stay with
him and not give him too many opportunities on my serve, which I was, again,
able to do.

I played one of greatest tiebreakers in my career with the four aces obviously.
But it was very hard mentally for me to stay within the match during the match, b
ecause my mind was always wondering, what if? What if I win this tournament?
What does that mean? What will I possibly say? I don't know.

You can't help it but to tell yourself, you know, once you win you'll get all
the time to think about all these things, but they keep on coming back.

I was very nervous at the beginning of the third set because I realized how
close I was. The last game, obviously you can imagine how difficult that game
was. It was almost unplayable for me because I was just hoping to serve some
good serves and hoping that he was going to make four errors. It was that bad.

So, yeah,it was an emotional roller coaster for me.


Q. It'sagainst our rules to applaud at a press conference, but you deserved it.

ROGER FEDERER: Thank you. Thanks a lot.


Q. Do you consider this, looking back to Australia andthen coming forward,
a rejuvenation in your career mentally and physically andin every other way?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I just think it's an unbelievable achievement, you know.
You know, I mean, I'm very proud of my career, obviously. You know, I achieved
more than I ever thought I would. My dream as boy was to win Wimbledon one day.
I won that five times, you know, like one wasn't enough.

But it's just -- I think the French Open, like for instance this victory,
sort of came up over the last few years when I realized what a great player
I could actually become.

After starting to actually getting to love this city and the people and the
center court, whereas in the beginning I had such a hard time getting used to
the conditions here and justnot feeling right for some reason. I had a lot of
difficulties playing well on center court because the court was sobig.

I've come along way. To get it at the end as the last remaining Grand Slam,
it's an incredible feeling. I'm, of course, very proud at this verymoment.


Q. You won Wimbledon at 21 and Australia at 22 and the US at 23. Is there a
value in life, a greater depth of feeling in having waited for something?

ROGER FEDERER: Absolutely, especially being so close for the last few years.
You know, maybe close, maybe far. It depends how you look atit. I think it
was very hard, you know, accepting the first defeat in 2006 I think was my
first final here.

I lost in the finals and I was like, Oh, my God. I got to wait one entire
year, and then I don't even know if I'll make the finals again. The last few
years have been easier for me approaching the French Open just because I've
been more relaxed and more aware of what's happening around me.

So I think, yes, the waiting and the age definitely has a big impact on how
important and how nice this victory actually is. It's been a long time coming,
and I'm happy I got it today. I'm very proud.


Q. Looking back on spring season this year, I think you struggled with your
play I think against Djokovic and Murray, but now you came back strong. So
are you believing you could complete career Grand Slam?

ROGER FEDERER: Yes, I did. You know, people talked a lot about me having lost
the grip and stuff. To some degree I guess it's true, because I lost my No. 1
ranking. But I didn't fall out of the top 10 or the top 1000. I still played
very consistent, especially at the Grand Slam level. My record shows it there.

But important for me was to continue working hard, you know. I had issues last
year. We all know what they were. People sometimes don't give you time to
actually let them heal or let -- you figure them out, you know.

I'm not the type of guy who's scared of going into sometimes matches not
feeling great at all. I don't care if I lose three times first round, I want
to see where I'm at in a tournament situation.

I can also, of course, decide not to play for three months and then come back
very strong again. That's not the road I chose. I'm the guy who likes to face
it and see if I'm good enough or not. I actually played pretty good.

I was happy with the level of play. I thought I played great in Australia. It
was also a good tournament in Indian Wellsand Miami untilI played Murray and
Djokovic and all those guys where all of a sudden my game completely left me
for some reason. I didn't know why. Maybe it was because my serve wasn't
helping me out, the back was still hurting me. I don't know what the problem
was.

So I always believed in my chances to win Parisor any Grand Slam. It's really
for thosethat I tried to keep myself most fit. That was also sone of the
reason why I took six weeks off after the Australian Open. Let everything
heal and let everything settle, and then I came back very strong.

I'm very, very happy right now.


Q. How much is important in this belief or in this win the fact that Mirka is
pregnant and you're awaiting a baby? How much important is in your mind to
think about this?

ROGER FEDERER: I feel like it's two different issues, different things. You
know, my private life is one part of my life. The professional one on the
court is another one. Thank God Mirka's involved in both of them.

I'm, of course, very happy with the pregnancy. Mirka is feeling great, and
we're looking forward to this upcoming summer and hope things go well for her.

But I don't know how much this victory has to do with it. It's definitely nice
to get it at this stage of my career. I think it couldn't have come at a better
time. So obviously the timing is very special with getting married and Mirka
being pregnant.

Maybe it's more emotional, but maybe not. I don'tknow how much it has to do
with it, to be quite honest. I'm just happy that my life is in great shape
right now.


Q. McEnroe never won here, and Edberg never won here and Pete never won here.
Are you aware there were a lot people thinking you sort of fit into that
category and it would have been shame if youdidn't do it?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I always tended to disagree with those. I had the feeling
I gave myself too many opportunity over the years at the French Open. I think
Pete was maybe once in the semis. Other players were maybe once in the finals.
I was in the final three times, one semis before, and I was able to win
Hamburg four times and be in the finals of Monaco and Rome, of all those
tournaments.

I knew the day Rafa won't be in the finals, I will be there and I will win.
I always knew and that I believed in it. That's exactly what happened. It's
funny. I didn't hope for it,but I believed in it.


Q. Sorry to bring you on to not quite such a nice event. You were confronted
today by some guy coming onto the court. It could have been a very nasty
incident. Could you just talk us through how you felt when you saw him? The s
ecurity seemed to take an age to getthere as well and stop him.

ROGER FEDERER: First, I didn't know exactly what happened. All of a sudden I
heard the crowd, and I looked over and he jumped over the fence or something.
That gave me a fright, just like seeing himso close right away.

The good thing is like it happened before, you know, so that's why I guess I
didn't panic. It happened in Wimbledon before when two guys ran out on the
court, and once I think it was in Montreal when I lost to Roddick when I was
playing for my No. 1 ranking in the third set.

Som it wasn't the first time. Normally they always kind of lookat me and go,
I'm so sorry I have to do this, because they have some sort of a reason for
it, you know. (Laughter.)

I remember the English guy was actually quite funny. He looked at me and goes,
I'm so sorry I have to do this. I was like, Okay, just don't touch me, you know.

This guy, Idon't know, he looked at me and I was not sure what he wanted. It
seemed like he wanted to give me something. So I was actually okay, because I
saw he wasn't pulling for anything stupid.

It definitely felt uncomfortable once he came close to me. Looking back, it
definitely threw me out of my rhythm a little bit. One game later It hought
that maybe I should have sat down and taken a minute or two to kind of reflect
on what just happened. Was that real or what?

But I don't know. I mean, I wanted to play on and whatever, get over it. But
it was a touch scary, yes.

Q. Svetlana Kuznetsova, who won this tournament yesterday cheers for you. Do
you know about it? And what do you think about Russian women and men's tennis?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I was very happy for Svetlana that she was able to win.
Russian tennis has been incredibly strong over the last few years. I always
said I liked her game, so I was very happy for her, to see her succeed here.

Yeah, they have phenomenal players on both sides. I'm sure we'll see more of
that in the future.


Q. I know isn't your plan, but if you had to retire tomorrow, would you retire
happy?

ROGER FEDERER: Yes, I would, yeah, because I feel like I've put everything out
there, you know. I fought for this moment and stayed positive and calm when
things maybe weren't going so well, even though they were still going great.

So, yeah, I would -- I always said it doesn't matter when I retire, I'll be at
peace. I can walk away from this game tomorrow, butI don't choose to because
I love this game too much.

It hasn't appeared in my mind once yet that I want to retire. Tennis is not
forever; I know that. But I'll try to definitely enjoy it as long as I can.


Q. Roger, with the rain and the history in your mind and the rain and this
crazy guy, was this as mentally challenging a final as you've had to deal with?
Obviously physically playing you weren'thaving a problem, but mentally.

ROGER FEDERER: I think it was difficult conditions, like yousay. I was hoping
for -- I said it inthe press the other day I think when I spoke Swiss German.
I said I hope for little -- no rain, because that would not be nice for
anybody: me,the opponent, for the spectators. The rain interruptions are tough to
deal with especially in a Grand Slam final.

Now, I do feel like it's -- it was meant to be this kind of weather for me.
Looking back, you know, especially I think I drew inspiration the way Andre
won here ten years ago.

I remember -- I don't want to say how lucky he got, but how things turned into
his favor when he needed it the most. That's exactly what happened to me the
last couple weeks. We're not talking about the Haas house forehand I had to
hit on thatbreak point down in the third set or other things.

But I wasin desperate situations during this tournament. This was just part of
this tournament, this terrible rain today and this tough conditions, the swirly
winds and the dangerous opponent. I think I was able to handle all of it for
two weeks.

I also said it many times that if you want to be a good clay courter, you have
to be able to play in these kind of conditions and in nice conditions, too.
That's where I've had my success in clay before, on bad -- in storms and in
nice weather. I was able to show it these last couple weeks. It's been very
nice.


Q. What significance, if any, for you is there to winning your 14th Grand Slam
title and matching that record?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I don't know. It almost gets forgotten a little bit, but
it's really what -- I don't want to say it means the most to me, but it's an
incredible feeling already having reached 14 and not having been sort of
derailed by maybe losing a couple Grand Slam finals against Rafa.

That sort of I took my time and was able to regroup and come up to equal
Pete's record, you know, here, in Paris is unbelievable.

Andre giving me the trophy, who was the last man to win all four majors, it
seems just very fitting in away. I played against both players as well, and
have the most respect for both of them.

I'm sure they're happy for me. I know it. It's a good feeling to have.


Q. Do you think the most important point of the tournament was the breakpoint
when you are serving in the third set with Haas?

ROGER FEDERER: I mean, it seems like it to me. But, sure, if you want to put
it down to one point, let's put it down to that one. I had to play many tough
shots during this tournament. Maybe one was also the breakpoint at 5-4 against
Soderling when he shanks the forehand. Who knows if he makes it and gets to
5-All. We don't know.

You have to go through many situations like this. I'm happy I was able to
handle all of them. Like I said,I had tough moments against Acasuso, Haas,
Mathieu, Monfils as well when he had set point, and against Del Potro, and
again today, as well.

So I always had to come up with the goods, and I did great. I really did.

Q. Many people said that you are in the history and compare you and Rod Laver
and PeteS ampras and say that you are the best in the history. What do you
think about that?

ROGER FEDERER: I always thought it's nice to be part of the best. I feel very
privileged and proud of my accomplishments in this sport. That's also why I
thought I had to mention them on the court. I don't know if we'll ever know
who was the greatest of all-time, but I'm definitely happy to be right up
there, that's for sure.

Q. You are probably not yet the best in history, but could this be a goal for
you in the next years to come before the end of your career?

ROGER FEDERER: Look, I just tried to have the best possible career I can, and
then I think it should be judged at the very end, you know. How well did I do?
Good? Great? Very good? Or medium? (Laughter.) I don't know. It's for other
people to decide.

Right now, I'm still playing. I haven't retired yet, and I think I still have
many more tournaments to go and many more Grand Slams. I'll give it my best
shot to have the best possible career. I am not addicted by beating all
possible records, but I'm very proud of them.

I hope I can maintain recordsI have going at the moment, and I hope to break
some other ones along the way. I hope to stay healthy, of course. That's most
important. Because motivation and drive is not a problem for me it seems like.

Then I think with the change coming in my life with the wife and baby, it's
gonna be very exciting next few years.


THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.

Q. Could you please tell us two things: This last game you were saying in
English how nervous you were. Can you tell us that again? Second question,
what did you do yesterday evening, and how did you manage the day before the
match?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, the last game -- I'm never afraid to serve for the match.
It's probably something difficult to do, but I always felt that the best was
to serve for the match in the end.

When you a break or a double break, you to expect you'll be serving for the
match, so this is why I've never been afraid of that moment.

But it was so emotional to play this first serve in the first game. I tried
to serve four aces. He would make four errors, and that was done. So that's
the ideal scenario.

But I also know that this is not likely to happen, so I tried to remain
aggressive. I tried to remain smart with regards to my choices. Maybe I was
not strong enough on my shots, on my forehand at 15-Love or at 30-All.

But these are things which are so difficult to achieve in those precise
moments, and thisis why sometimes you see that the score is turned around.
Well, I don't know. You know, mentally, I was elsewhere. I was not seeing
myself winning, but I was so happy I was in that situation. I had to remain
so calm, and at the same time I had to try and do my best. So it was such a
magic moment. It's difficult to describe why and how.

But as for yesterday night, I was watching the two matches I played against
Soderling in Madrid and in Paris, Bercy, here last year. I had the CDs to see
what he does well and not that well to prepare. Then we talked about the match,
and then I had dinner in my room with Mirka.

You know, I didn't want to have a big group of people around me. I wanted to
stay in my zone, in my comfort zone, and it worked out and I'm happy.


Q. What's the best for you, is it winning the four in one year or winning 14
Grand Slam trophies?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, the four are incredible. I mean, I don't want to comment
myself, but if you've won 14 Grand Slam trophies, it means you've won the
three others many times, which is difficult to achieve over many years.

Or if you win the four, you can do that quicker because you're in good shape
and it's the right time for you. Both are very difficult to achieve. Maybe
it's easier to today to win the four in one year than it was 30 years ago
when grass was much faster, when hard surfaces were much faster, when clay was
what it was.

In the past, you had clay specialists and hard surfaces specialists. Now it's
more mixed maybe to make it easier. But at the same time, it makes it more
difficult. I don't know.


Q. So you waited 27 years to win in Paris. You won the US Open, Wimbledon, and
the Australian Open much earlier. Does to give a special flavor to this trophy?

ROGER FEDERER: First, I never waited 27 years, because 27 years ago I was just
born. My parents never told me, If you don't win Roland Garros we take you to
the orphanage. They never said I had to win Roland Garros. It never came from
them. They just hoped. They just wished I could achieve that.

But, having to wait gives you more pleasure, because a first victory, Wimbledon
in 2003, that was a shock. Later on, you know what it's like winning, managing
pressure, walking on the central courts, with the press, having sponsors,
being rich and famous. Your life changes.

Mine changed as from the first Grand Slam tournament I won in 2003. So today,
yes, satisfaction is huge winning here in Paris after I was soclose many times in a row. So it was theoptimal moment for me to win Roland Garros.

Q. Why? Determination? Aggressiveness? Serve, didn't work in the other matches?
Is it because of Soderling, or what?

ROGER FEDERER: I don't serve at 280 kilometers per hour. Each player is
different. This is what makes tennis difficult. The conditions are different
every day, andthe opponent is different every day. Del Potro, Soderling, and
Monfils have a similar style, but they're different at the end of day. They
return differently and they have different favorite shots. They serve
differently at important key moments. So you can't always serve or move in
the same way.

In tennis, you can lose although you've played well; you can win although
you've not played great tennis. Everything is possible. You need to make the
good choices at theright time, and this is what I managed to do here. I'm
very proud.


Q. What came to your mind when Soderling's last ball went to the net?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I hoped it wouldn't come on my side. Then I had to play a
backhand, and I hoped I would surprise him. But he played on the frame of his
racquet. The moment the ball hit the net you know it's over. You don't know
what's going to happen, if you want to run around the court or fall on the
court or just do nothing.

I had those same reactions. I just kneeled on the court. This is what I did
when I won against Sampras in 2001. This was almost the same thing, because
that was something that I dreamt. That's the best way for me to express myself,
to really feel that I won.


Q. When Nadal lost, you didn't make many comments about it because you had to
remain focused on your next opponents. You had to be focused on that rather
than on Nadal that was no longer there. But now it's over, so can you tell us
if you thought, okay, this is gonna be a good year for me? Did it come to your
mind?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I knew I had bigger opportunities than the years before,
because, you know, records against Nadal are tough for me. Even I had defeated
him in Madrid, Ik new that if he was no longer in the draw, things would be
easier for me. I was not happy he lost. That's not the type of guy I am.

This is also why I had to keep my feelings to myself. The press wanted to hear
me and listen to what I had to say. When the time came for the press conference,
they wanted me to say something about it. But to me, it's important to have
respect for Rafa for everything he's accomplished over the last four years.
He never lost here. That's an exceptional record, andit shows how difficult it
is to win a tournament five times in a row.

That's something. I know. I've done it in Wimbledon and US Open. He tried to
achieve it here, and it shows it's not easy to achieve. Of course, I was
disappointed for him, but I also knew that it was a big opportunity for me.
But it also increased pressure on me.

Didn't make much difference right at that time, but for the final it did
because I was not playing Nadal but Soderling.


Q. What do you foresee for Soderling? Do you think he can win a Grand Slam?

ROGER FEDERER: I think he should be better on faster surfaces. This is where
he had the biggest successes, on indoor tournaments. The US Open and Wimbledon
are courts that should be better suited to his tennis.

I think that it's important that he continues to work hard and take what's
positive from this tournament and move on.

It's difficult, but I guess it's something he can do.


Q. Two short questions: One, after you had been defeated four years in a row,
have you ever had any doubts you would make it here in Paris? Second question,
when you dreamt you would win here, did you dream these conditions with this
light, the rain?

ROGER FEDERER: No, I always had faith in my chance here. Even if I had very
tight rounds at the end of tournament, I knew that I had the chance here in
Roland Garros, because I'm too good a player not to have a chance at the end.
That's one thing.

Second thing, I don't know if I had seen the day would be like this. I wanted
to -- my dream when I was a kid was to win in Wimbledon on grass. I was not
dreaming I would win here. This is something I hoped, but I can't tell you I
had any image in my head of how I would win.

Then I was so close and I saw Rafa winning, and so I hoped I will achieve that
one day. I was almost sure I would be kneeling on the court if I was to win
here.


Q. Since last Sunday and the elimination of Nadal, there were great
expectations on you. Was it the longest week of your life?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, these were two long weeks, but especially the last one,
because it was as if I had to play four finals against Haas, Del Potro,
Monfils, and Soderling. The pressure is so big. People really wanted my to win.

It was very difficult to manage all this. This is why I'm very tired right now.
I think it's going to take me a bi tof time to sort of accept this victory. It
came as a surprise in the end because I've never won here, but the feelings
were great, absolutely great.

This is why I think it might take me a bit more time to realize that I made it.


Q. Soderling played beautiful matches all along the tournament. Today he was
almost absent during the first set. What happened? Was it the pressure of the
final? How do you analyze this?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, no, I don't think so. He probably didn't have the
beginning of the match he was expecting, because I was playing well. But when
I analyze the matches he played and when I saw how he won, I said, yes, he won
against guys who were playing very far from the baseline.

So this gave him time to organizeand he used his big shots. I never had many
problems returning his shots. I knew that there would be rallies, and it was
important for me to be close to him, to play hard against him, and use the
advantages I have on clay.

This is exactly what I wanted to do, and it worked out. This is how I beat him
the last nine times. I have the feeling that the other opponents let him play
too much. This is what I tried not to let him do.


Q. I asked you the question on Friday, and you said, Ask me the question on
Sunday. I can't remember what it was, though. Well, it was about did you have
signs that it really was your year.

ROGER FEDERER: Yes. Well, the way I won the match against Acasuso and Tommy
Haas gave me that feeling that this could be a good year. Then Rafa lost,
and Djokovic had lost before that, so it didn't make much difference. But it
allowed me to have greater hopes.

But there were moments when I was so close to losing. I feel it's just like
Agassi when he won in his days. It's not that we're lucky, but we need to use
luck when it's there. When I look at how I practice so hard, thinking I'm
doing all this for Paris, for Roland Garros, everything came in at the right
time.

Maybe in some matches I would have liked to have them earlier, but I managed
to make the good decisions in difficult situations. Winning tight matches
showed me that, yes, maybe this is the good year.

This is why I didn't want to answer your question. You never have any
guarantees. If I break my leg on the court, maybe it's not the good year.
So I had to wait and see what would come out.


--