Roger Federer: “The end doesn’t scare me”No grand slam, his #3 spot in jeopardize… Federer slowed down this year, but the greatest tennis player of all time pledges he wants to finish with a flourish.
Making of: Saturday, 27th of August, 10 AM in at the US Open. RF is jubilant because he managed to save his daily practice despite Hurricane Irene approaching, which will force the tennis center to close for 48 hours. The Swiss joins us with a flowing walk, with a big smile and an authentic handshake. He takes a chair and sits down. For safety, he repositions the recorder on the table. Ready? Recording. Beforehand, we’ve explained to him that this interview will have to be updated at the end of the tournament. He’s ok with it and gives one of the rare interviews he’s given this year.
For the 1st time since 2002, you haven’t won a GS this season. It must burden you, no?It might be a tough year, but I’m not frustrated. You musnt’ get worked up over defeats but instead, look ahead.
But looking ahead, what does it mean for you since you are considered the greatest player of all time?It means the season is not over yet. I gave up the Asian swing after playing the DC tie for Switzerland, in Australia, but now, I’m looking forward to the what’s coming next. There are still important goals for me, starting with my “hometown” tournament in Basel, the London Masters… I imagine I’ll be very hungry at the next AO, and I’m sure if I continue to work hard, now that I’m feeling good physically, it will eventually pay off. I haven’t had this feeling in a long time. It’s good to feel this again.
To reach the top again is a challenge on par with your outrageous level, and it seems that this idea of a challenge is the driving force behind your life…A challenge, the driving force of my life? Not really, actually… A challenge is when you want to achieve something for the 1st time. Once it’s done, you play for the joy of being the best in your job, and of winning, but you don’t have anything to prove anymore. What changes when you reach the last stretch, is that afterall, you can’t content yourself with this. Tge expectations and the doubts on my abilities get bigger with each of my defeats, even if I don’t feel spaced out at all. That’s where we speak about “challenges” again. You want to prove to everyone and yourself that you can still win GS, and for that, you have to beat Rafa and Djoko, but also Murray, because he’s able to beat all three of us.
You think you can still do it?I don’t have a choice. When you’ve been at my level, you can’t content yourself with spending a season on tour losing in the second round every week! I don’t try to beat particular players, but simply to do my best with what I have, taking circumstances into account.
What circumstances?At 30, you don’t manage your career like when you’re 25. It’s normal, I also have a family now. This demands a more important organization than in 2004, for example, when I was travelling alone with Mirka. It was very easy to organize, very flexible, I went where I wanted to go. Today, it’s very different. It’s not easy to keep the engine moving with the little ones who travel with us. But I’m not complaining. On the contrary, I like all these changes. I’m not here to try to pile up as many victories as possible. I prefer finding solutions to the new problems appearing. It spices up the situation. And it would be sad, if you think about your dreams as a kid, to live this tennis player life in a totally routine way. Because it’s about a whole, questioned everyday. When I come here to practice at 8AM, I’m happy. It works or it doesn’t, but at least I try to do my best. Therefore, if it works, I feel stronger in my head.
In fact, you try to escape the routine all the time?Exactly. I also like to find inspiration in different places. That’s why I trained in Sardinia for a while, for example, then in Switzerland – I’m actually considering a training course in altitude for one of these days -, then in Qatar, or in Dubai. This year, for the 1st time, I prepared the USO during 2 weeks in the Grasshoper club in Zurich, outdoors. It was risky because the weather wasn’t mild, but it worked. Once, I had prepared the AO in Tony Roche’s house in Sydney… These are sacrifices, always having the same routine would be easier, but in the end, I can tell myself: “What experiences I have been able to live in my life!”. And that’s nice.
When we look at your achievements, even beyond the 16 GS: how many beaten records! 23 consecutive GS semi finals, etc. And yet, sometimes we forget. Does it upset you?People forget, yes, but we talk about it again when, for example, a guy like Djokovic does huge things. The media look in the game’s history books and they find that: “Look, Federer already did that in 2005 or I don’t know when…”. There aren’t many people who remember unfortunately, but maybe the end of my career will be the occasion to bring out everything I’ve achieved again. This summer, I talked with David Nalbadian in Cincinnati. All of a sudden, he asks me: “Between 2004 and 2006, how many matches did you lose?”. Taken by surprise, I answered: “I don’t remember: it’s your job to find out” (* Between the 2004 USO and the 2007 IW, RF won 201 matches and lost 10). These were superb years. I beat 26 top 10 players in a row, won 24 finals in a row. At that time, everytime I was in a final I won!
That’s the reason why all these questions are about the fact that you’re “just” #3 in the world, behind Djoko and Nadal. It must wear you down a bit, no?Yes and no. I approve of an ATP ranking, but it puts a lot of pressure on the players. Most of all, it gives a lot of stories to the journalists. It makes people talk… However, it also prevents from seeing that one or multiple players can play at a great level at the same time. We always think- wrongfully- that there is only one player ahead, and all the rest behind him. It’s not that simple.
You say you are not scared to get older. And does the idea of having to stop your career scare you?No, it doesn’t either. I started thinking about stopping playing tennis 4 years ago. After all I’ve done, I could stop playing with a my mind at peace…When it’s over, it’s over! I’m proud of my career, and I know that I have many more years to live after tennis anyway, I hope, many more things to accomplish, maybe with my foundation, or in many more fields. SO the end doesn’t scare me. Moreover with a family. I’ll have more time for it, even if I’m already completely into it.
As a teen, you were a shy boy, and also hot tempered. You’ve become a pretty open and relaxed man: how did you do it?I don’t know around what age people become less shy. But around 16, it’s normal to be shy, because the girls of your age, in fact, don’t want to spend a lot of time with you. They’re always 2 or 3 years more mature compared to boys of their age. Me, I had confidence like a tennis player or to spend time with girls, but it was hard to really talk to them. If I liked them for example, I felt insecure. But as years went by, it came, I don’t know how or why, but I think the fact that I met a lot of people, including girls, maybe the fact I was surrounded by adults, definitely helped me get over my shyness.
And the anger?It’s the classic story… One day, in 2001, I decided I would shut my mouth when I’d be on court. Well, after that, for about a year and a half, I struggled, I was too calm almost! I wasn’t myself on the court. For that matter, you could see I had results like that (with his hand, he describes a rollercoaster). In 2003, in Wimbledon, I thought: “I’m nice to others, and afterall, I feel good like this. Whatever happens, this is how I need to be on court”. Since the results conforted me, I was able to concentrate only on my tennis, and everything followed on…
Is there a causual relationship between your defeat in the 1st round in the 2003 RG and your first title in Wimbledon? Like a sort of rebellion?Against Horna, after losing the 1st set, I tell myself: “How could you win this match? And even if, by chance, you get out of it, it’s impossible to win another 6 matches in 5 sets”. I was #6 in the world, but I wasn’t ready to play seven 5 set matches. I felt ashamed. In retrospect, I told myself: “Why play RG if you don’t think you’re capable of winning 7 matches in a row?”. I think that mentally, I was just a mouse.
Meaning?Bah, very little with no brains…(laughs). Anyway, in the end, I learned a lot from that experience, that’s for sure. Because the Swiss press was starting to charge at me and everything. I said: “Well, I won’t read the press anymore!”. And for a month, I just focused on the practice. In the end, it payed off.
For you, is tennis a means to express yourself? A way to surpass oneself? Or a battle between two men like in boxing?Really, I think it’s a combination of all this. That’s why I love this sport so much, why it’s so telegenic. And also why it’s so exciting live, because the stadiums aren’t huge; there is atmosphere, with lots of people, but it’s still intimate. The spectators see the players well, their expressions, we hear all the little noises, there is this dimension of a battle man to man like in boxing, but with the distance, and in the end, like in boxing, there is this respectful “shake hands”. A way of saying: “It was a good match, I appreciate that you made me play well. Thanks to you, I was able to express myself in a magical way”.
Paul Annacone, your coach, compares your life to a Shakespearian play cut into 5 acts: the vocation, the victory over Sampras in Wimbledon, the first GS victories, the accession to the status of living legend… What will the 5th act be made of?Another GS title. Or the Gold medal in the London Olympics, in Wimbledon. That Gold medal, I still don’t have it. But the OG have always represented something extraordinary to me…
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ROGER FEDERER-ის ქომაგთა კლუბი(Part 6), THE GREATEST TENNIS PLAYER OF ALL TIME
