How uncocky.
He thinks this year, he can do what he did last year.
I'm sure he'll destroy Hewitt in 2 slams this year.
BBC America TV: "I can't believe I wasn't number 1 in 2003. I won on all court surfaces."
"Don't feel sorry for me if I don't win all 4 slams this year."
"Every other week, I won a title."
ATP Tennis Show: "I don't want to give interviews in the morning."
Khaleej Times Online >> News >> SPORTS
I am still the best, says Federer
By Ahmed Abbas Rizvi
26 February 2005
DUBAI — Greatness knows itself. One look at Roger Federer and you know the truth of that maxim.
Dare suggest that his loss to Marat Safin in the Australian Open semifinals and three consecutive third set tie-breaks could be because the rest are catching up, and he looks up at you hurt.
“You wouldn’t like to say that because I have the feeling I haven’t been playing well but still coming through,” the ‘Basel Dazzler’ said after his latest escape, a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) win over Juan Carlos Ferrero at the Dubai Tennis Championships Men’s Open on Thursday night, when he survived two match points to enter the quarterfinals.
“I am winning the crucial points so that shows I am at the top of my game when I have to be,” he added.
And then, as if to challenge the rest, he said: “We will see at the big occasions if they are close or not. I am still by far the number one player in the world.”
To even suggest that the amazing Swiss’ powers are on the wane would be incredulous, if not blasphemous.
Hear it when past master John McEnroe tells you Federer has “a chance to be one of the greatest players to ever live.”
Believe it when Lleyton Hewitt says “Roger has raised the bar for us over the last 18 months. Does he have any weaknesses? I don’t think so. We’ll all just have to work harder.”
McEnroe should know. Hewitt should know: He lost six straight to Federer in 2004, none of them particularly close.
Federer finds himself astride the men’s tennis world that he has pounded into a lopsided shape favouring himself. The Safin loss at the Australian is just an aberration.
He is 33-1 in his last 34 matches, and the past season has given him divine bragging rights.
The Swiss, blessed with prodigious talent and unflappable playing style, went 18-0 during 2004 against so-called peers in the Top 10. He lost just six matches in 2004 while winning 74, thus batting .925, the highest winning percentage since Ivan Lendl’s .925 in 1986 and John McEnroe’s .965 in 1984.
He won 11 titles in 2004, the most since Thomas Muster racked up a dozen in 1995. And he has won every one of his last 15 finals.
So what’s with this Safin “secret” to beat Federer?
“You know, he knows so many secrets, it’s amazing: He knows everything,” laughed Federer, when reminded of the Russian’s boast that he knows the secret of beating the Swiss. “No, I am just joking. He is a good guy.
“Ferrero said he has a secret, Hewitt knows a secret, Safin knows a secret — they all know it. But I am still on top,” the Swiss replied.
But then, what is the secret of stopping the ‘Fed Ex’?
“You shouldn’t ask me, you should ask them,” he said. “I have no clue how to beat myself.
“Jeez, I am such a good player,” he added with a laugh. On a more serious note, he added: “It all depends on your form on the day. Of course I cannot expect that every time I play a Top 10 player, I am going to beat him. I think they know that.”
But surely, there must be some chinks in the armour?
“My backhand and my returns at times,” he revealed. “Some days it could be your volleys, sometimes your quickness on the court lets you down — It all depends upon your form on the day.
“But my backhand has always been bad,” he added, with a sheepish grin.
And yes, the defeat to Safin in the Australian Open semifinal had also got him thinking.
“It was on my mind till just before the tournament in Rotterdam,” he revealed. “I was not sure how I am going to cope with this defeat because it hadn’t happened since the Olympics. That was quiet a while ago.
Good start
“In Rotterdam, the start was good and I ended up winning the tournament. So that’s (the Safin loss) forgotten and it’s good.”
The three tight wins — the Rotterdam final and two matches here — have only added to Federer’s confidence.
“I am so happy to have won the last three close ones,” he said. “There was one close one before that I lost and that was a rough one against Safin (at the Australian Open).
“So I am happy to have now overcome this again. When I get into tie-break in the third set, I am not thinking about the Safin match.”
The Safin match couldn’t have bothered him for long anyway. Because Federer’s mind is always on winning — not just the Majors, but every tournament he participates him.
“When I come to a tournament, I am here to win it; I am here to do well and not just to participate,” he said.
He understands that some players use certain tournaments for practice purpose. But not him.
“It’s easy to practice around a tournament. All the players are here, the setup is perfect,” he said. “At home, sometimes it can be tough to find the right sparring partner.
“For the ladies, it’s different. They can hit with a guy. But we are already the best out there, so we cannot just go and hit with anybody. We need somebody who, at least, can handle our rhythm. So for this reason, sometimes players come to a tournament and take it as a preparation for the next week. But I don’t like to look at it this way,” he asserted. “Every tournament counts for me; it is not just the Slams.”
Such hunger, if he can keep it burning, will someday surely see Federer eclipse Pete Sampras’ monumental record of 14 singles majors, accomplished in 13 seasons between 1990 and 2002. Sampras had won five majors at age 23. Federer, 23, has won four.
Neither Lendl nor McEnroe won three majors in one year as Federer did in 2004 (Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open). Mats Wilander did it in 1988, but failed in the Masters, losing in the round-robin.
Of the game’s big five (the majors plus the Masters), Federer won four in 2004. In 2005, he has missed out on the Australian Open.
That will surely have made him hungrier, as McEnroe warned.
“Federer’s the kind of guy that as soon as he lost at Australia, he was setting his sights on the French Open (which begins in May),” McEnroe said.
“He’s the sort of guy that immediately starts looking toward the next major.
“The loss will make him hungrier. I think it will motivate him even more. And that’s a scary thing for the rest of the field.”
