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Roger's post-AO final press conference. Q: Roger Federer, how did it come so quickly to 2/6 in the 5th set? How did you feel before the 5th set? Do you think that Nadal was stronger than you expected? What do you think was the reason to miss so many BPs? Can you compare this 5 sets loss with the one at Wimbledon? Are your feelings similar? What do you have to do in order to get the upper hand on Nadal? What do you mean by that? Can you draw any positives from this AO? How much time will you need to get over this loss? * People have been citing his win at last year's US Open, after losing Wimbledon and crashing out of the Olympics singles event, as the clearest example of how he doesn't just go down and weep quietly after a tough loss. And I think it's true. Of course, before I read this it was just conjecture, and the cautious part of me was wondering if it wasn't just false hopes on the part of his long-time fans. But now, I get that they are long-time fans for a reason, and because they are long-time fans, they know him better than me. He's said so himself now - "Better days will come again, it can't get much worse than this." And his wanting to play more matches against Nadal shows that he's not conceding their head-to-head, and that he's not giving up. People have told me that Nadal won't be around forever and that his style of playing isn't going to last because of the impact it's had on his knees. That may be true, but the issue isn't getting around the Nadal problem like I would get around a mountain; the issue is scaling that mountain. The issue is confronting and conquering the Nadal problem. He wouldn't be Roger Federer, 13-time Grand Slam champion, if he looked challenges in the face and chose to turn away. I wouldn't admire him if that was how he responded to setbacks. And so I wouldn't want him hoping for other players to take Nadal out before the final of a tournament; leave that up to me, please, thanks. I'd want him wanting to take the challenge head-on, because he's not a coward, and he's more than capable of beating Nadal. He just needs to believe - truly believe - it. And what he said about always meeting Nadal on clay? Considering that, prior to the Australian Open, 9 of the 12 victories Nadal had over Roger were on clay, I can see where he's coming from. And nowadays every court is virtually as slow as clay anyway, except the US Open, so...yeah. Well, I can't say enough - or I've said more than enough - how much I love this man. Because I love him very much. His fans have said that he crumbled under more than the Nadal pressure, that the expectation of the world of him to win his #14 was too much for him to bear, and that the presence of Australian tennis greats like Rod Laver and Tony Roche in the stadium also put additional pressure on him. I think it's a fair assessment. He's won 13 grand slams, but this was the first time he tried to tie the record. #14 is not the same as #12, or even #13, and it sure as hell isn't the same as #1. This was the first time he was consciously and actively and directly chasing history - and Roger Federer knows, and respects, his tennis history. Add the fact that it was Rafael Nadal on the other side of the net...well, amazing he took it to five sets. A tremendous pity he couldn't grab it when he had all the opportunities to do so, but well, no point crying over spilled milk. One thing I missed from the match, though, was the get-out-of-jail pass that Roger used to employ on break points. He used to fire down aces and save himself with aggressive first serves, but in the match, his serve was gone and he had to play rallies to try to save his ass. It was really sad that his serve deserted him that day, of all days, when his first serve percentage was hovering in the high 60's in his previous two matches. Then again, on the flip side, he won a set serving at 30-something percent. That goes to show the quality of his baseline play, which goes to show the quality of his backhand. I've said this before but I'll say it again: I was really happy with his backhand. It didn't crumble after a few shots like it did during the later part of 2008. He was also winning many points off that beautiful backhand slice, so...yay. Right, I'm sleepy. I really just wanted to post the presser but ended up writing all this. I think Roger should hire me to write his press releases and the articles on his website or something, or be his PR manager or whatever. I'd do a great job! And I'd do it for free because I love him so much! Haha whatever. I'm going to bed.
before sunrise // before sunset
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