MASTERS SERIES MONTE-CARLO PRESENTED BY ROLEX
Date: 2008-04-23

MASTERS SERIES MONTE-CARLO PRESENTED BY ROLEX

April 23, 2008

Roger Federer
MONTE CARLO, MONACO
R. FEDERER/R. Ramirez Hidalgo
6-1, 3-6, 7-6

The Moderator Questions, please.

Question How did you get out of that one?
Roger Federer: Uhm, I don't know. A bit of a grind, I guess, you know. It's always hard, you know, serving it out. It was tough on him, I guess.
But I was just hoping, you know, for a better spell where I was wasn't making maybe so many mistakes, finding my attacking game was working a little bit better.
It all came together, you know, at the right times. I'm happy I got through this match.

Question Was there a bit of fatigue after last week, or why do you think it wasn't such a good day for you today?
Roger Federer: Look, I don't know. I felt a little bit slow out there today. I think, you know, my opponent played so bad in the first set that he sort of almost faked me out. You know, he couldn't serve. He was making many mistakes from the baseline. All of a sudden, you know, after the first game, which I thought was average from his part as well, but he managed to win it anyway because I didn't play so well. Didn't miss any more. Started to serve better. And then after that I really struggled, you know. So I was really unhappy with my game.
But in the end at least it was fine, you know. But for one and a half sets, you know, I was quite disappointed.

Question When you went down 5-1 in the third, you thought it was almost over or you still had hope?
Roger Federer: Well, I guess you have a little bit of hope. But more on the side of, you know, packing your bags and leaving, you know, that's for sure.
You know, rarely am I in a situation like this, 5-1 down in the third, and I still manage to come back. Usually it's much more even, you know, 3-All, 4-All, whatever. But, no, you know, I was disappointed with the way I played.

Question Do you remember if you ever won a time after 1-5 in your career?
Roger Federer: Don't know. Your job (smiling).

Question What does that tell you about what you have to do tomorrow?
Roger Federer: No, look, I mean, it wasn't all bad. You know, it was fine in the first set. It was fine in the end. Just in the middle, you know, it wasn't good, you know. So for tomorrow, a new match, new day, new opponent. Everything's gonna change.
So I hope I'm just gonna play better, you know, in all.

Question Do you have the feeling that if you had in front of you a player more consistent than Ramirez Hidalgo today you would have lost or not?
Roger Federer: Maybe at 5-1 down, yes. But first the guy's got to get me to 5-1 down in the third.
His credit. I think he played really well, you know, in the second and third set. Didn't miss much. You know, he played aggressive. Played far back in the court, you know. I didn't serve very well, so I gave him a lot of opportunities, as well.
So your question's irrelevant.

Question What made you more worried about your own game? What wasn't working as well as you would have liked?
Roger Federer: Well, you know, I mean, I'm coming in late this year whereas, you know, maybe the last few years I always had four, five days. You know, maybe once I think I even had six days. So this year maybe that's just a bit of a difference.
You know, I had some adjustments. I definitely had the feeling, you know, the ball's flying more here than still in Estoril. Conditions over there were very windy; tough conditions to play in. Come here, all of a sudden conditions are better, you know, but the ball's still flying.
I just think it needs a little bit of an adjustment. Maybe that was one of the reasons I struggled today, I don't know.

Question And in terms of confidence, is there anything different this year compared to last year because of all these reasons you mentioned or not?
Roger Federer: No. I'm feeling fine, you know. Six matches on clay, six wins. So I'm not complaining (smiling).

Question Then you win three awards, as well.
Roger Federer: On top of that, isn't it great? It's a great day (smiling).
Couldn't be more happy.

Question You won Fans' Favorite and Humanitarian of the Year.
Roger Federer: Did I? Humanitarian was last year.

Question What were the three today?
Roger Federer: Sportsmanship, the Fans and the Player of the Year.

Question Happy with those three?
Roger Federer: Sure. I mean, I think they're very nice. You know, especially, you know, I think Fans' Favorite is always nice. You know, I mean, I guess I'm so well-liked all over the world today that people vote for me, which is a nice thing.
Sportsmanship is just really a privilege. You know, that's being voted by the other players, you know. I beat them so often and they still vote for me, so it sort of works (smiling).
But it's just nice, you know, being recognized by the other fellow players. I try to play in a good way and, you know, be also sort of an idol, you know, to kids, you know, the way they should behave. It's nice that other players vote for me.
And the Player of the Year is the obvious thing, you know, finishing No. 1 at the end of the year. In a way that means the most or the less (sic), depending on how you look at it.

Question We just had a British player who lost 54 matches in a row. Had he lost 55 matches in a row, he would have set a world record for defeats.
Roger Federer: You guys are rough, huh (smiling)?

Question What would you say to someone who is in that kind of situation, losing matches week after week after week? Would you say, Keep going?
Roger Federer: I would rather lose 55 in a row. At least that's going to be mentioned more. But you're going to mention him even though it's 54.

Question We have already.
Roger Federer: You have already (smiling).

Question Do you give him credit for carrying on?
Roger Federer: I mean, Vince Spadea had an issue at one stage. I think he lost 21 in a row, I remember. What are you going to do? I mean, all you can do is work hard, hopefully it's going to turn in your favor, and it's not going to happen again. You know, I mean, that is some streak to have against you.