Physically marked by his long match against Dominik Koepfer on Saturday night, the Swiss did not rule out giving up the round of 16 to preserve his knee in view of Wimbledon, his No. 1 goal this season.
Special envoy to Roland-Garros
Making of : Tired, Roger Federer appeared in front of the press at 1.30am, around 45 minutes after his match point against Dominik Koepfer beaten 7-6 [5], 6-7 [3], 7-6 [4], 7-5. Professional at his fingertips, the Swiss nevertheless took the time to answer many questions from the media and confided that this fight would inevitably leave traces on his body as a 39-year-old player who has just returned from a long period of inactivity. The Helvète did not make Roland-Garros his priority objective this season and to preserve his operated knee and his chances of appearing well at Wimbledon, he could ignore the coming shock against Matteo Berrettini scheduled for Monday.
Roger, how worried were you in this game?
Roger Federer: After the second set, I wasn’t too sure what was left in the tank! It has been a great battle so far. I said to myself at that time: “Here, I have to raise the level a little!”, Especially from an emotional point of view. And so, maybe just loosen up a bit more, and go with the flow, and the experience would make all the difference. There are always times when you have ups and downs, when it comes to winning the best of five sets. There, that’s not really the question, the question is: how I feel now to have won. The question is not too if I was worried or not!
“I pushed as much as possible, while remaining reasonable”
Are you satisfied with your performance?
This match was very important to me. I hadn’t trained for 3.35. I was pushing as much as possible, while remaining reasonable. But today I think it was a big step forward for the team, for all of us. I didn’t expect to win three games here, and then have a good performance on Cilic. I am very happy with what I did tonight.
Was playing in a night session and without an audience difficult?
Yes that’s right, no fans at all, luckily it hadn’t happened to me for a long time. I knew that at one point or another it would happen. And all is not yet finished with the pandemic. For Halle, it will be the same. Indeed, this was unique in many ways. However, I’m glad I found the way, from an emotional point of view, to manage to handle the situation after losing the second set. I was boosted by the energy of my team, and then, I imagined, it’s Saturday night, a lot of people are watching TV. They want to follow the game and I was playing for them who were watching TV. It was my inspiration.
Emotionally, how did you experience this meeting made up of ups and downs?
When you lead, it’s fun. When you’re downstairs, it’s no fun! This is how it changes, this territory of emotions. In any case, the conditions were very good, zero wind. And then, hard not to crack. I tried to crack it several times. I thought to myself, since I’m a winner, ‘this will help me’, I tried, along the lines. You have to love what you do and I love what I do. I try to always be motivated. I knew it was going to be a great game after Cilic and that it would be difficult. And then, it was also in Paris, on the center court, where I always wanted to be when I was a little boy … I remembered it several times. I like these fights on clay. I really enjoyed this battle. Dominik also played a very good game.
“I’ll see if I keep playing or not, if it’s not too risky for me.”
How do you deal with the uncertainty surrounding the condition of your operated knee?
In 2017, when I returned, no one – even I – knew what was possible. There is a fun side to it. However, I would have preferred it to be different. I need matches like this. These are stages that we analyze in depth while watching the upcoming match. We are going to do the same thing tonight and then tomorrow too. I’ll see if I keep playing or not, if it’s not too risky for me, if I keep pushing like this, or if it’s the best time to stop. Because I don’t have a week between now and the Halle tournament. I will see the best, I will also think of Wimbledon. A lot of things go through my mind, but a match like that… I know we could have played a fifth set, and I’m not sure how I would have woken up the next day.
Do you think it is reasonable to play at this time with the risk of ending the game very late at night?
Each time, I have to reassess the situation after the game is over. The next morning I see how I wake up and how I feel with my knee. It is always the same thing. It doesn’t make a difference a game like tonight. But hey, this match, it’s true, as I said earlier, was long. It’s been a long time since I’ve had games like this, from 3:35 … If I watch the US Open or other places, sometimes I finished later than tonight. It’s part of our sport, of our activity. It can end at 4 a.m. sometimes, it’s not ideal for anyone. Going to bed at 3 in the morning is not ideal, but if you are an athlete, a professional this is how it is. I believe that the spectators, that’s what counts! It’s business, we have to move forward. Anyway, there’s one thing I’m sure, whether it’s day or night, on clay it makes a big difference. We cannot compare one and the other. On a hard surface, it’s pretty much the same. But on earth, between day and night, there is a huge difference.
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