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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPSFebruary 27, 2015Roger FedererDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES R. FEDERER/B. Coric THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. He says you're a lot different to play than the guy he's watched from the couch. ROGER FEDERER: Okay. Q. Can you talk a little bit about, you know, the match and how you thought he played. ROGER FEDERER: Yeah. I think conditions definitely played a role, as well, today. It was quite breezy, you know, gusty. To some extent it always makes for‑‑ I feel you don't maybe chase the lines as much, so you're playing more within the court, trying to avoid going too close to the lines. And plus, because we never played against each other, I don't know his game very well. Maybe I was a bit tentative in the beginning, but I was still able to get off to somewhat of a good start, not being broken early, then breaking him right away. Okay, he got back on even terms, but it was important not to give him the lead. I felt like after five games I knew more or less what to expect, and I realized what had worked until that point and what had not. Plus I had a lot of information from Severin, my coach, of how Borna usually does play because he also played Stan at the beginning of the year in Chennai. Yeah, I can see why he has so far caused difficulties for some of the top guys and he still has a lot of room for improvement in his game. He does a really good job for a big guy, again. Another one, big guy who moves very well. It's unbelievable how now in the last 10 years we have seen so many big guys moving well from the baseline. Usually big guys used to come forward. Now they stay at the baseline and move well, so I'm very impressed with that. I think he returns very well, especially off second serves, and that's such a huge part of today's game, I believe. Maybe I did have just a bit of too much variety for him today, and I made it difficult. And clearly it was also part of the game plan to check him out how he was going to handle the slice and the speed, the chip and charge and the serve and volley a bit, and I'm happy for me it worked out very well. Q. Novak said that when he practices with Borna he sees himself in him and he feels he's playing himself. Did you see similarities between his game and Novak's game? ROGER FEDERER: A little bit. It's far‑fetched, to be quite honest. I hope he's not going to be the next Novak. Don't do that to him. So I believe he does actually play quite different, especially in terms of technique. It's quite different. Serve is totally different. But I do see what he means, you know. He's a bigger guy, probably same size and moves well off the baseline, especially towards the backhand side, does a very good job, Borna. You know, I see what they are saying. Q. Borna was playing a lot today in the afternoon. ROGER FEDERER: During the week, you mean? Q. No, today before the match. He was training a lot. ROGER FEDERER: Oh, okay. Q. Did you practice today a lot before the match, or you were just resting and getting prepared? ROGER FEDERER: I mean, I do the same every time I play. I practice for 25 minutes maybe before every match. Doesn't matter if it's day match, night match, what surface it is. That's usually what I do. No more, no less. I've gotten into that routine. Then I finish the practice. I have enough time to eat, to digest, and then talk about the match, tape my ankles and warm up again for the match. Yeah. So I have pretty much the same routine as I go along. Q. You're through to your ninth Dubai final in 13 tournaments since 2003. Whoever you face in the final from here must give you confidence? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, I was already happy to be in the semis, to be quite honest. I didn't want to lose. But the idea was to try to get some matches here in Dubai. And then looking ahead at the season, clearly Dubai is a very important tournament for me, but I am coming from a over‑two‑week vacation, so I'm very positively surprised how well I'm actually playing right away. Reminds me a bit of Shanghai last year when I took two weeks off and I came back in Shanghai and won. So maybe I should go on vacation a bit more often. I don't know (smiling). So I think from that side I'm very excited that it's going so well, and I know the final is going to be a whole lot tougher. I'm talking about players who have the potential to win any tournament they play, and usually their goal is to win every tournament they enter, especially Novak. So it will be an interesting match. Tomas has played a good season so far, especially on the quicker courts like here. He's very dangerous, especially connects well on the serve. Novak has really dominated again since the end of last year when Paris came around, I guess. Showed up when it mattered the most. That's what you can expect from Novak if he makes the finals, for sure. Plus I played them both last year, and both were tough matches. I'm looking forward to either guy. I'm going to try to catch a little bit of the match later on tonight. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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