Federer interview. From cms. Thanks.

cms

Tennis Magazine Australia published the second part of Roger’s interview in July 2008 issue. From the RF forum:

Roger Federer

BRING ON MORE BRILLIANCE

The threats posed by hungry new champions has done nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of Roger Federer – especially when there are Olympic medals, Grand Slam titles and more world records to claim.

Q: Novak Djokovic says “I want his spot, I want to be number one” where players in the past would say “I want to be number two or three because these guys are untouchable”. Does that motivate you?

No. But I think Rafa has always wanted to be No.1 in the world as well. Maybe Novak is just speaking a little bit more ‘loudly’ about it, you know. And he’s maybe just got that sort of aura around him that people, whatever he says, pick it up in a more aggressive way, I think.

Rafa has always been very down to earth, very low key. This is why he doesn’t come across that bad, but he wants it as bad as Novak, for sure.

Q: Do you have the feeling that the threat from behind is bigger than ever before?

Well, I think when I came up with the generation of Hewitt and Safin and Roddick and all these guys, I think that was sort of maybe similar time to what it is today. I mean, that group was very, very strong as well, you know.

We had plenty of No 1s there. If you look back, all of them became No.1 in the world at some stage, so you have the same thing here. Even though some guys have been strong to enter into the top 10, like Berdych or Bagdatis, to stay there on a regular basis, there’s only so many of the other guys are always ready for a surprise.

For me it was only matter of time until the juniors will really arrive, and it seems like it’s happened really since a year or so.

Q: you’re still very young. Still, do you feel like your body is trying to react differently as a few years ago, in that it tires more easily after practice?

Honestly, not in a big way. I feel my body – I think (it’s) important as an athlete, I think it’s to understand your body, how it reacts and how it feels before and after competition and what can happen, what is normal, what is abnormal.

So I think this is also way of experience, you know. When you have a lot of muscle pain and you don’t understand why you have it….you don’t know that it’s normal. Sometimes it’s normal that you have muscle pain, depending on what you do.

And I know exactly what I need to get ready for matches, I know what to treat to feel better, and this is, I think, is a big secret.

Q: Can you still improve?

Yeah, sure. I think every player feels can you always improve. You can adapt your game a little bit, change little things. Yes, so absolutely.

Q: A lot of players put the Olympics behind the Grand Slams. It seems like you almost put it in fornt.

It’s a tough call. I think it’s the same thing for me. Depends, you know. I think it’s – it’s as big. Let’s just put it that way. Some – it depends what you have achieved so far in your career. Because I have won so many Grand Slams, the Olympic Games become more, much more important for me than maybe the other players.

Q: Describe your experience of getting to know Pete Sampras.

Oh, yeah, sure. Especially for me, you know, I don’t know how you saw Pete and how much you knew him. But for me, I kind of just missed him. He was sort of a ghost on tour for me, you know. Too high, too good to talk to. Sort of too much respect. He was gone before I knew it, you know.

That was a bit unfortunate. That’s why I really enjoyed actually playing against (Andre) Agassi for so long. So getting to meet Pete, it was about everything and actually playing against him, because I had the pleasure once of playing against him at Wimbledon.

It was a lot of fun. We had – we had a great time together. I would do it – I would do it for sure again if the chance comes about. So we’ll see if we can do one more exo. I think we have maybe one more exo left in us. Yeah, I mean, he might come out here. We’ll hang around again. We’re in contact, and it’s nice to have sort of gotten to know him. I admire him so much.

Q: Do you feel more bitterness in him that you might be threatening his record?

No, I think it’s in a healthy way, really. I think he would be happy for me. Obviously it’s hard for him to maybe let go of those records, but I’m not there yet, you know, so I still have some way to go. I know I have a lot of time, but you never know. That’s why I really hope I can make it.

Q: You’ve won four Laures “World Sportsmen of the Year” awards in a row. What does that mean to you?

Well, then again, that is highest level of comparison to another sport. Just being compared to (Michael) Schumacher and Tiger Woods, and Valentino Rossi, guys who have also been dominating their sprt, is just a great honour for me. In some ways I really feel like I’ve carried tennis outside of just the sporting world, and I’m very proud of that.

I’m very proud of that. Tried to be good ambassador for this game, and it’s given me everything I ever wanted. Laureus, to get stand there and get the award from such great people, great sporting legends who voted for me, it’s a big thing. I think it’s really a big deal.