From Fed's press conference:
Q. You now face Robin Haase. His first Masters 1000 semifinal. Your thoughts about playing Robin, and your thoughts about Robin coming back from a multitude of injuries to get to this point right now.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, first of all I'm happy for him. We spent a lot of time on the player council together at the ATP level. I know him well. Had a lot of good discussions about tennis politics for many years.
We practice a lot together, as well, in Dubai and here again this week. So we always chat a lot in the locker room, have good talks. I'm very happy for him that he's playing very well this week, and achieved his first Masters 1000 semis.
We actually spoke last year in Wimbledon together about his knee issue. Then I was having the knee issue. So we're just trying to compare his feelings and my feelings because he was going through a rough patch before that, as well, over a longer period of time than I did. He also I think had surgery at one point.
I think we're both happy that we're doing well again. I'm looking forward to a tough match because he can serve very well, and he mixes up his tactics a lot, you know. Sometimes he tends to just roll the ball in and use the big serve, or he uses a slice a lot and comes in. So I don't quite know with Robin what I'm going to get tomorrow yet.
But as I have practiced with him quite a bit, maybe I am better prepared than if I would have never hit with him before.
Q. Some players were asked about the speed of the surface. Haase was saying it seemed a bit slower. How do you feel the surface is playing this week?
ROGER FEDERER: So you're asking how I feel the surface is playing? Well, it's the beginning of the hard court season for some of us. Not all of us. Some were playing in Washington and here before. So it's one of our first matches on a fast surface.
It's not easy to play with a ball that flies. If you play slower with topspin, you can make the rallies a bit longer, as we've seen between Haase and Schwartzman. Sometimes they play faster.
But those who are aggressive have an easier job because the surface is fast. I prefer the faster surfaces. Before we had very often slow surfaces. Here I believe it's medium fast. When you play during the daytime, it's always faster than in the evening, so it's easier.
From Haase:
Q. How quick is this court?
ROBIN HAASE: I don't think it's that quick, but it's also not slow. I look at courts different than many other players. I believe when the ball bounces high, I call it a slow court. Although some actually then say, Yeah, but it's so fast, it goes up and everything.
This here, the ball doesn't jump that high. That means if you can attack and you can come to the net, it's a little bit quicker. But it's not a quick hard court.
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