Roger Federer: “I Would Get to the Quarters and be Tired”

Swiss tennis ace, Roger Federer has come away from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, with a victory. In the process, he avenged his Australian Open defeat at the hands of Greek sensation, Stefanos Tsitsipas.

While speaking in the post-match press conference, Federer revealed how he has evolved as a player. The 37-year old has come a long way in a career spanning nearly two decades. He has been World Number 1 a few times in his career and broken several records.

Speaking to the press, he said, “Yeah in the beginning you’re getting used to playing every single day, getting used to traveling and playing. Like what Stefanos did, playing, winning, traveling, playing with jetlag potentially, keep on playing, trying to stay in shape, trying to stay mentally sane through the whole process, doing to press, going to play, going to sleep, going to eat, just going through that week in, week out. It’s challenging.”

He warned that success goes hand-in-hand with media attention and it can take a toll on a player. Aside from that, moments like winning awards, national rewards and other such things just have to be dealt with.

He continued, “Your tennis grows in the process very quickly because you’re learning so much about yourself, learning how to play other players, how they’re learning to play you. You try to compress it every single time, in every game, every breakpoint, whatever you’re facing.”

The Swiss maestro also spoke about how he managed to transform himself in the mental department. He knows that he needs to get ‘match tough’ and be able to be at his 100% every single day. The 37-year old confessed that it was not easy for him to keep his emotions in check but he managed to figure it out. Federer also stressed on not wasting too much energy in the duration of the tournament.

He said, “I remember in the beginning of my career, by the time the quarters came around, I was quite exhausted already because I was so happy winning points, disappointed losing points, I would get to the quarters and be tired.”

He explained further, “Like I said before, just trying to understand how to play against which type of player. I think that was a secret for me. Then saying injury-free. Without being injury-free, you will never get to these amount of titles, I believe.”

“Yeah, a lot of things went right. I’m sure I took a lot of good and bad decisions along the way. I couldn’t have done it without a team. My team has been phenomenal throughout. I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve said that always time and time again from my first coaches all the way to today. I always had the right coaches always at the right time.”