Roger Federer
Quotes
( Photo credit: Art Seitz ©2009 )
November 28, 2011: "I’m shocked every time that I’ve reached so many finals or won against so many players or whatever record it is. It strikes me and makes me obviously very happy and very proud that I’ve been able to do it for so many years at the highest of levels."
— Roger Federer, after capturing his sixth Barclays ATP World Tour Finals title, breaking the record he shared with Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl.
June 20, 2011: "I know I can beat Novak on any surface; I’ve done that in the past."
— Roger Federer, scheduled to meet Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, in his quest to win a record-tying seventh Wimbledon title.
May 2, 2011: "You always have to respect Roger. For him to be three in the world is a downgrade, and if you think about that it’s stupid. For me he’s the greatest player ever. Every time he loses, it’s tragic."
— Jurgen Melzer, after upsetting Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4 at Monte Carlo
December 18, 2010: "I'm not angry. As an athlete ... you should be open to criticism, and you're allowed to be criticized, because not everybody has the same opinion, not everybody likes the same players. The rankings are quite volatile: Today you're 'great,' tomorrow you're 'not,' but then you're 'great' again. It makes for great stories. Now, I always look at the long term and by doing that, obviously, I can stay calm through the storm."
— Roger Federer, telling the Associated Press that he's philosophical about media criticism.
December 1, 2010: "The theory is that if 'hate sells', Rafa vs. Roger just does not possess the ingredients of the tastiest sporting feuds. They're just too damn nice, killing each other with politeness. But isn't that matiness actually what helps make it a completely refreshing rivalry for the ages? Cut out all of the hype and unnecessary posturing and manufactured animosity and just savour only the absolute competitive brilliance of two masters near the peak of their powers."
— Ian Chadband, sports columnist for The Telegraph (UK), on the sublime, friendly rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
December 1, 2010: "The grass is one part, it being at the Holy Grail of tennis is the second one. London, if you see how successful this World Tour Finals is, how successful Wimbledon is, how much tennis is liked in this country - all these things make this a very, very special place to play tennis."
— Roger Federer, telling Reuters what the attraction of having tennis staged at Wimbledon for the 2012 London Olympics is.
April 7 , 2010: "The press started asking questions because a father hasn't won much before, but I am a master at blocking stuff out on the court. The marriage and kids inspire me. My relationship with Mirka was always very strong and intense, and we worried a little that if we have kids, can we keep that? Should we take that step? We decided it's better sooner than later. Hopefully, they can see me play. That was important to Mirka. My life feels very balanced now, and my perspective changed. All of a sudden, I have children depending on me. It's not all about me anymore."
— Roger Federer, on the positive impact his twin daughters have had on him.
March 2, 2010: "There's a responsibility that comes with what we do. We have the [platform] to do more than hit tennis balls."
— Roger Federer, on why he organized a January 17 exhibition, Hit for Haiti, that raised $150,000 for earthquake victims and why he made a humanitarian visit to Ethiopia in February.
February 2, 2009: "In the first moment [afterwards] you're disappointed, you're shocked, you're sad then all of a sudden it overwhelms you. The problem is you can't go in the locker room and just take it easy and take a cold shower. You can't. You're stuck out there. It's the worst feeling."
— Roger Federer, who cried for two minutes during the awards ceremony after losing the five-set Australian Open final, describing the agony of defeat.
December 1, 2008: "When they [court announcers] say, 'This is the world No. 2,' it just doesn't sound right to me because either I'm No. 1 or I'm a grand slam champion. I'm not world No. 2. I just don't like the ring of it when I'm introduced on court because I've been up there for so, so long."
— Roger Federer, wounded by his demotion to No. 2 behind Rafael Nadal and vowing to regain his top spot in 2009.
September 9, 2008: "One thing's for sure. I'm not going to stop at 13. That would be terrible."
— Roger Federer, after demolishing Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to win his fifth straight U.S. Open and 13th major title.
July 7, 2008: "This really hurts. Losing Paris for me was nothing, losing here is a disaster."
— Roger Federer, after losing 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7 to archrival Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final to end his five consecutive Big W titles streak as well as his 65-match winning streak on grass.
April 24, 2008: "Now the umpires can hide even more behind these calls. It makes it really hard for us. They tend to now just let us do the work, the tough stuff. They let us get embarrassed, basically."
—Roger Federer, rightly lambasting the inept and unfair implementation of Hawk-Eye electronic line-calling system by means of Player Challenges.
September 25 , 2007: "He has handled everything in his playing career and private life with a lot of class. So many people are intrigued by scandal, but I believe a person with the personality and image like Tim's is much more special."
— Roger Federer with high praise for Englishman Tim Henman who ended his stellar career -- highlighted by reaching the Wimbledon semis four times and a No. 4 singles ranking -- with singles and doubles Davis Cup victories against Croatia.
June 11, 2007: "Rafael played an excellent match and deserved to win." The door's still open. though. The later it comes, the sweeter it will become. I know I can do it now, that's for sure. If anybody can beat Rafa, then it's me"
- Roger Federer, optimistic despite losing for the third straight year to Rafael Nadal at the French Open, the last two times in four-set finals.
May 31, 2007: "I'm not going to beat him every time now. You've got to be able to dominate him on the baseline. Will he allow me to do it again?"
- Roger Federer, with a candid assessment of his clay-court rivalry with Rafael Nadal after beating him for the first time (after five losses) in the Hamburg final to end Nadal's 81-match winning streak on clay.
March 15, 2007: "It is very disappointing
that something like this has to happen before you realize
that the system is not going to work. Everybody knows
I was against it in the first place, and I doubt it's
going to happen next year. All I hope is it doesn't
damage the integrity of the game."
- World's No. 1, Roger
Federer, asked to comment on the round-robin fiasco
at The Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas when James Blake
was eliminated, improperly reinstated (according to
the rules) by ATP CEO Etienne de Villiers, and then
eliminated again after protests from the media, fans
and voices as powerful as former world No. 1s Marat
Safin and Lleyton Hewitt.
January 29, 2007: "All these Grand Slams since 2003, that's what, for me, is really scary, how many I've won. I was thinking about it this morning actually when I woke up. Like if somebody would have told me I'd win 10 Grand Slams from mid '03 till today, I never would have thought there was any chance of doing something like that. I would have signed up for just one, you know."
- Roger Federer, humbly
assessing his brilliant career after winning the Australian
Open without losing a set.
June 1, 2006: "Many
people take away things from Sampras because he never
won the French, saying his career was not complete,
which I totally disagree with. I think he had the best
career of any player ever."
— Roger Federer, telling
the Associated Press that he wants to avoid that same
criticism by winning the French Open this fortnight.
April 11, 2005: "Every match
I go into, I'm the huge favorite. I lose a set and it's,
like, crazy."
—Roger Federer, whose
2005 match record has grown to a startling 32-1 after
winning the Nasdaq-100 Open.
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