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ROLAND GARROSMay 30, 2014Roger FedererPARIS, FRANCE R. FEDERER/D. Tursunov THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please. Q. Congratulations for another great victory. A different match rather than Diego's match. What were your feelings on this one, please? ROGER FEDERER: Probably in a nutshell, tough to lose a second, but nice to win the match. I'm pleased to be through. Like expected, it was not a straightforward, easy match where I knew that Dmitry is going to try different things, play aggressive, serve well at times and then take big cuts at the ball. That's kind of how it went. So I'm pleased I found a way and played it sort of solid and tough toward the very end. Q. Do you think the injury affected him, the key to achieve the victory? ROGER FEDERER: You have to ask him how bad it was for him. He was still serving 200s at times. So where I felt it the most was that he struggled to return the serve, you know, the reaction, left and right was maybe missing a little bit. But in terms of playing aggressive tennis, that, he was able to do normally, in my opinion. I think everything that was out of his control, like moving defense, that's when it got difficult. But, you know, when somebody serves big like he does, it's sometimes a bit difficult. He has the capacity to stay very offensive at all times. But clearly on the clay it's difficult, you know, to hit three great shots in a row. So I tried to extend the rallies, but serve nice and stay aggressive throughout. And I think that was a bit too much for his hip or whatever it was. Q. After changes in the personal life of the players, everybody is asking how can it affect you in your game. You lost in Rome, but here in Roland Garros you are going up. Do you think your new babies are affecting your tournament? ROGER FEDERER: It's just a different pace day to day, you know, spending time not only with my daughters but now also my sons. So there is a bit of a different dynamic. But overall, clearly enjoying ourselves, you know, like never before. So I'm very happy in my personal life, and that is very positive for my on‑court performance, as well, I believe. How I sleep hasn't been interrupted. I'm a true professional when it comes to those kind of things. But clearly anything away from center court here and, you know, the grounds I have a very nice time with my family every minute. Q. It was a hard match, but he did get too many looks on your serve, really. You saved both breakpoints but in the third set which was just eight games, it was tough, true? ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I think I elaborated enough on the match. I think it was a solid performance by me on my serve. I think on the return I was trying out different things. I found a better way of returning by standing a bit further back midway through the third set. That's also what got me more offensive throughout the point. I think he was doing a very nice job with my slice, dictating play, and I tried to get out of it. I was trying to defend as much as I could, you know, sometimes, but I wish at times I could have played a bit more offensive and come to the net. But today was difficult because I think Dmitry keeps on the back foot automatically by his big shots. Q. You were on the same court during practice. How does that work with you? ROGER FEDERER: Same thing like with Lacko in the first round. Here at the French Open, you know, we don't have that many courts maybe at some other events. Yeah, it's like at the juniors, you know, we share courts (smiling). It's okay for me. We know each other well, and you go through your motions, 20, 25 minutes for me, anyway. Clearly you want not to disrupt his warmup, but it is true it's nicer to have a full court for you rather than a half one. But, you know, when you come on tour it's normal to share courts. It's normal to, you know, be four on a court. Nothing new for me, really. Q. You have Gulbis next. He seems to be ‑‑he claims that he's a completely different player now than before. Have you seen him play recently? What are your thoughts on this match? ROGER FEDERER: I mean, I didn't see him enough to really tell. I did play him in doubles in Indian Wells. Beat him and Raonic 7‑6, 7‑6 with Stan. I mean, how much can you take out of a doubles match where there is just serving going on, anyway. Not that much. Clearly he has to be confident after winning a tournament last week and now backing it up again here this week and cruising through, really. I'm aware of the challenge ahead of me, and difficult match I think because I have had some tough matches with him in the past, usually always sort of three sets. I don't know how many times I played him, but I remember Doha, Madrid, and Rome. I don't know if I played him elsewhere, but I think those matches all went three sets. Q. You are a real social ninja. Twitter... ROGER FEDERER: I think there are more active guys than me, but go ahead (laughter). Q. Have you ever thought about having press conference on Twitter using special hash tag? ROGER FEDERER: You mean, like a question on social media? Q. Have you ever thought about idea of having press conference on Twitter, asking journalists to ask you... ROGER FEDERER: I have done like, you know, Q&As and all that stuff on different platforms and also on Twitter. It's nice being able to interact with the fans and do it sometimes, you know, on the couch back at the room, you know, your home and still stay connected. It's a nice way to do that. It's been a year now that I have joined Twitter and it's been actually very nice reception, people are very friendly on the web, which is nice, because sometimes in the blogging world it's not always the case. That's why I was a bit worried about it all. I enjoy myself, and I hope to give sort of the people who follow me like a different angle of my everyday life and some insight and input, really. That's basically why I do it and not to manage media or whatever it is, you know. THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please. Q. Second week for you. How do you assess your run so far and this match today? You had set point, you could have won in three sets, in straight sets. You ended up playing a four‑set match. Was it tricky or not? ROGER FEDERER: After three rounds, I have got all the information. Today it was a tough match, had to defend well because he was a very aggressive player. Against a previous player it was a matter of getting in the groove. The first round was quite okay, but I've got my bearings now, my landmarks on court. I will talk with Stefan and Severin, and they will tell me what they think about the match and they will talk about the tactics with Gulbis. Q. With Gulbis it will be a special match. He's able to deliver some incredible shots. ROGER FEDERER: He has a great serve, and he's very enterprising of the second serve. His backhand is very simple. It works well with a lot of power. He's able to hit the backhand above his shoulders, so he's a very good player. Year after year he moves better on court. I think that is more determined. He has a great game, and he can do lots of great things, thanks to his game. He has won some tournaments. He can be very good against the best players. He's confident. He's brimming with confidence, and I'm delighted to play against him. Q. At the start of the tournament you said that for the first week what matters was to get through to the second week. After these three matches what do you think of your game? ROGER FEDERER: I know what are my assets, what are my weaknesses. Serve, return, that's quite okay. I've spent more than five or six hours on court, so I've got the information. I hope that I will step it up. Q. Do you think that your level of play is ready to play against Gulbis? ROGER FEDERER: Yes, of course I'm quite ready to play against Gulbis. Q. For the 12th consecutive time you will reach the last 16. What do you think of that? ROGER FEDERER: I'm delighted, of course, but the tournament goes on. So I have won 60 matches here. I have reached the last 16, so it's great. I grew up on clay when I was younger, so most of the time when I play on clay courts when I was younger, it was indoor. But I remember that here at Roland Garros I lost to Medvedev, to Rafter when I was a younger player. So at the start of my career, clay was not my favorite surface. I got my best results in indoor courts or hard courts. So people thought at that time that I was only a fast‑court player. But that's not the case. So I'm very happy with this record, and I'm enjoying it. Q. So you have your twins, even though they don't watch the match but they read books. What do you make of that? ROGER FEDERER: I like it a lot. I enjoy it. It gives me some inspiration. I feel happy as a person, and if they watch 10 minutes or five sets, it doesn't change anything. It's nice to be all together with the whole family. That's what matters. But now they are calmer, they can remain in the stands, and that's great. If they love tennis, so much the better. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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