January 8, 2011
R. FEDERER/N. Davydenko
6-3, 6-4
An interview with:
ROGER FEDERER
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Nikolay said that that was the best
you had ever played against him. If he's
right, and considering you've played 16
times, that's saying quite a lot, isn't it?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I think so. I
mean, look, I think his serve has very much
improved over the years and he's become so
solid and so, how do you say, just accurate with
his shots over the years that he really, to me,
when he's in shape, and -- you know, his results
show he's won the World Tour Finals, three I
think Masters 1000, he's got a phenomenal finals
record. I think he's won Davis Cup as well. So, I
mean, he's won a lot, you know.
I feel like if things would have gone
maybe a bit his way, he maybe would have had
chances to win a few slams, as well. So I think
I've always kind of matched up well with him, but
the last couple of years have really become more
difficult because of the player he has become.
When he's on, he's easily top 10 if not
top 5 potentially, and that's why this is obviously
a huge win, because I thought he was playing
well. And like you said, I thought the level of play
was extremely high. I was very happy with, from
my side, I was almost flawless, and I was able to
play offensive when I needed to, and when I
wanted to it all worked out. So I'm really pleased
with such a great finals.
Q. You seemed to play a lot of fast
rallies and hustle him a lot. Was that one of
the things you were trying to do?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, he
plays fast himself, so I can't just trying to outslow
him into corners, you know, get there and then
hit it hard. So I had to, you know, go the pace he
also goes at.
I mean, he's serving also quite big on the
first serve now, so he also goes through a couple
of service games where, you know, there's not
much of any rallies. So that's also due to his
good one-two punches he has.
From my side, I really made sure I
served well again, like I did all week, and then,
when I did have chances, that I go for it, and it
really worked out well.
Q. You usually say that you like to
win the tournaments, but as preparation for a
Grand Slam this was pretty good as well,
wasn't it?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah. I mean,
people almost put too much of an emphasis that
it's purely a preparation tournament, and I don't
like to see it that way, because regardless of how
I go here, I still have a week in Melbourne where
I'll prepare for the Australian Open. That's
preparation week for me.
This is important to do well here. I'm not
just only using this to get ready for the Australian
Open. This is a pleasure coming to this part of
the world where I actually do spend quite a bit of
time, and I've always had, you know, good
friends here in Qatar. I love playing here, been
successful here in the past. That's the reason
why I come here, not because of the Australian
Open really.
I mean, there's parts of it that maybe I
need some matches, but I got those in Abu
Dhabi already, and if I don't get them here, a
week of practice, with my experience, is plenty,
as well. So that's why I'm really happy to have
nevertheless played so well here this week.
Q. After you won the first tournament
in 2011, do you think you will get back to No.
1 this year? What's your steps for that?
ROGER FEDERER: We'll see how it
goes. Look, obviously Rafa has a lot to defend,
but at the same time, he's very confident and
he's the one who is world No. 1 and has all the
confidence, really.
So, I mean, it's going to be very difficult,
clearly. But if I keep playing at the level I'm
playing and reaching only, you know, almost all
these finals lately, and then obviously you feel
like you'll have a chance.
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But I have to keep it up, and you need to
do something special to get to world No. 1. It's
not enough to win a Grand Slam and the World
Tour Finals anymore. You almost need to do
more than that, and I'm prepared for that, so we'll
see how it goes.
Q. Do you think it would have been
different for you today if you were playing
against Nadal?
ROGER FEDERER:
Well, clearly it
would have been a completely different matchup
because he's a left-hander with a lot of
experience, but Davydenko is also not the
youngest anymore. He's actually older than
Rafa, so he has a lot of experience. It would
have made for a completely different matchup.
But in terms of toughness, it would have
been equal to the one today, because
Davydenko played unbelievable yesterday and
today again, but I was able to find a way to beat
him today. So I'm very happy.
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