Though, he is not one of the hot favorites at French Open this time, 17 time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer is still an apparent threat to all the big guns in the draw. The Basel native made a perfect start to his French Open campaign yesterday with a straight sets victory over Lukas Lacko and during his post-match press conference, the Swiss talked about a lot of other things than tennis only. Here are the excerpts: How much happier are you today with your game and with your life? Everything is great right now. I mean, I am happy for the good start of the tournament here in Paris. I had good signs on court that I am playing well, the level of tennis I want to play. In my personal life, as you all know, everything is great and I am very happy that the family is here. First match of a tournament on a big stadium, you have done it million times. Is there still a bit of a rush? I wasnt actually nervous heading into the match. It was more like, you know, hints of fear. Like, I hope I dont have to pack my bags today sort of feeling. I think today with my experience Im more laid back going into a tournament, going into a first round of a Grand Slam. What really counts however, is not the name or the importance of the tournament, its rather the atmosphere the stadium has. Is it a night session? Is it full? How early in the day it is? Is it full? How is the weather? That is more important in determining whether you are nervous or not. How vulnerable do you think Rafael Nadal looks now? I dont think anything is different for Rafa compared to the previous years. I think hes back on where he wants to be. Hes played his matches he needs to play. Hes won a Masters 1000 in Madrid at home. So I think he is where he wants to be in my opinion. You are known for your calm and confidence, but talk about the nerves over the years. When were you the most nervous? Probably never as nervous as for the Sampras match at Wimbledon. It was my first time on Centre Court, my first time against Pete. There I remember the cold hands, nervous, the pulse. Just feeling like is not the usual match, you know, kind of thing.
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 10:03:42 +0000
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