TENNIS ATP TORONTO – 8th of August 2014. R. Federer d. D. Ferrer 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. An interview with Roger Federer
Q. Is it happy birthday?
ROGER FEDERER: It’s all over. Finally.
Q. So the first question will be how do you manage to get so fast from your defense and you’re on the net like so quickly? I don’t see nobody else could do that. How do you do that?
ROGER FEDERER: I don’t know. I remember early on when I came onto the tour, it’s something I realized I could do very well, actually, the transition from defense to offense.
Then the faster I got, the stronger I got, the better my shots became, the more easy it seemed to me. At the end it became natural, you know. But for that you need to be, I guess, agile and all that stuff.
It became a strength of mine and I still use it today, you know, because usually when you’re in defense it takes you a few shots to come back into the point, but like you say, I think I am able to turn it around rather quickly.
Q. Were you able to get up to anything special or fun in the city before you made it here today?
ROGER FEDERER: I went for a nice lunch with my family, my friends who are here, my team. I had to sleep in the morning, which was a bit of not something I wanted to do but I had to do it. Otherwise I couldn’t have really performed really well out here tonight.
It was a nice day. You know, the day was short lived. Slept for a while, and then went for lunch and came over here and prepared. I wish I could have spent more time with the kids, but, you know, I see them every day so it’s okay.
Q. Wondering what it was like to have the crowd break into a spontaneous song of Happy Birthday for you in the middle of the match.
ROGER FEDERER: Unusual, to say the least. I think it happened in Montreal also once. I remember if I was playing Stan? I’m not sure. Maybe it was.
Well, you’ve got to try to stay focused, but at the same time, clearly it’s very much appreciated. It’s so nice, you know, seeing so many people care for you and wishing you all the best and all that.
I think Canadians in particular are very open with their emotions. They make me feel very welcome here. Definitely one of the reasons I try to come back as much as I can every year.
I’m really having a great time here again this week with my family. Everybody is super nice. I do feel the love, no doubt.
