Roger's post-AO final press conference.
written: 3:41 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 04, 2009

I'm posting Roger's press conference translated by a member of his site from German to English for my own future reference. I don't really know why there's a German one since most of it is similar to the English one...unless the German was translated from English. But it doesn't make sense for the English version to contain less than the German. Or maybe he said the same thing three times (including the French presser, that is).

Q: Roger Federer, how did it come so quickly to 2/6 in the 5th set?
I didn't have to be in the 5th set on the first place. I had to win the 1st and the 3rd sets. The 5th set was just the consequence of losing the 1st and the 3rd. All in all it was a good match. I had many chances that I didn't take advantage of and this cost me dearly. Unfortunately I didn't serve well either and that was the key at the end.

How did you feel before the 5th set?
I felt OK. Indeed a 5th set isn't some kind of a game of chance but if you are a bit unlucky and all of a sudden you are behind in the score it becomes very difficult because you don't get many chances anymore. I was disappointed that I played so bad. I didn't deserve to play that bad. I had a terrible 5th set and virtually gifted it to him. However there is no doubt that he is one of the toughest players that you can meet in a 5th set.

Do you think that Nadal was stronger than you expected?
I didn't pay attention to that. I tried to give my maximum and I think that I played well from the baseline. I was aggressive with my backhand. Of course I hoped to play more with my forehand but that's difficult against Rafa. I was very satisfied with my way of playing, also with my return. But still it's very tough to miss 6 BPs in one set.

What do you think was the reason to miss so many BPs?
I wish I was also a lefty and played from the ad side and not from the deuce side on a BP. Of course this is a huge advantage for him and it's not the first time. 90% of the balls came to my backhand and sometimes he tries something special during BPs. This makes things more difficult. But he also improved a lot on hard court. It's unbelievable how good his defense is on hard court. In such case you should just hang on there and this is what I did. It's a pity that I served badly during the whole match which didn't help my confidence at all in the end.

Can you compare this 5 sets loss with the one at Wimbledon? Are your feelings similar?
This time it's quite different. I was very disappointed that the outcome of the match at Wimbledon had to be decided in darkness. That was very difficult to accept. At the end it was a game of chance but we couldn't stop at 6/6 when the whole world was watching. I played well here like I did at Wimbledon. That's why I leave this tournament with a good feeling. I am happy with the level of my game. It's just a shame that I couldn't play better at the end.

What do you have to do in order to get the upper hand on Nadal?
It would be helpful to play more against him on hard court. It is easier to play Rafa on hard court because there are less bad bounces than on clay and grass and you get more chances to stay in the rallies. Therefore he must have greatest difficulties when playing on hard court. He had much more opportunities to play on clay against me and this helped him a lot also for the other surfaces.

What do you mean by that?
He beat me at Wimbledon because he had already beaten me in Paris. He has a huge advantage because he always goes with immense confidence in the grass season. But he has already developed his game a lot and played well. It wasn't a wonder that he also won the Olympic Games. I was a bit surprised that he wasn't considered a favourite at the AO.

Can you draw any positives from this AO?
I am happy that we can play such matches on such high level. This was also a big start of the year for me. Of course I can serve better but this is something I can live with. Better days will come again, it can't get much worse than this. The match cost much more energy than one could think. Now I have a break for several weeks and can have a rest.

How much time will you need to get over this loss?
The moment of the award ceremony is brutal above all. It goes very quickly after that. It would be the easiest if I could play another tournament. I wouldn't have to regret endlessly about this final. I love tennis, it means everything to me in life next to my parents and Mirka. Tennis has such huge meaning to me that it's very difficult to go through such ceremony which is in addition a very long one. In the same time I still feel the warmth of the crowd. This is already very tough. That's why it hurts tremendously to lose such matches.

*

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


Previously:
- - Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017
I'm moving. - Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010
In all honesty - Tuesday, Jul. 06, 2010
What I want for my birthday... - Sunday, Jul. 04, 2010
On Roger's behalf. - Friday, Jul. 02, 2010