07/05/2011 21:37 CEST - INTERVISTE

Federer (7.5.2011)

Q. Was your right shoulder bothering you at one point? A. Not enough to lose the match because of it. I’ve had muscle pain since the first game, not only in my chest. It’s actually better than yesterday but I just feel that when I keep on serving and then the match extends and I haven’t served in maybe 5 to 10 minutes sometimes it’s just stuff. It’s good to warm up. I was serving okay, I was still able to hit full speed which is most important and I didn’t double fault much so it was fine.
 

Q. During the week we saw some bad bounces; do you think the court was okay? A. Clay courts always have bad bounces. They try to do a good job and try to even it out every change of ends which I think is a good thing. I don’t think this court is a clay court all year long – I doubt it. So they put it in and try to do their best. It’s a court that has definitely gotten better over the years which is positive for the year to come.
 

Q. Given that you’d come from behind to win that first set, how big was that dispute at the start of the second set? A. Not that important. If it goes my way it’s obviously huge, if it goes his way it’s huge. At the end of the day I don’t know how it was. At this point I don’t care anymore, it’s in the past. It looked like it was two marks. The one he showed me seemed very small, for me to small for the type of spin and pace the ball came at but maybe it was the type of court it is and these line, maybe. It wasn’t a dispute, it was just disbelief really. I don’t know how tennis you play but they are really hard to see when the line is here and the ball comes across the line. Sometimes it could be just this much out and you just don’t see it because of the line and the ball all kind of blend into one so that’s why it was a tough call obviously. Yesterday I got lucky I guess at 15-40 against Robin when I got a good call, today I didn’t. That’s the way it goes sometimes. I thought Rafa played well and me too at times so it was a good match.
 

Q. Your reaction in the first set was quite amazing, why did you start playing much better than in previous games? A. I made some easy mistakes on the volley and on the forehand it wasn’t just quite happening yet. Just trying to get a feel for how aggressive I was trying to play and then at the same time getting use to the incredible bounce and spin that Rafa gives you. In the beginning I was missing quite a few forehands from the forehand corner which I really shouldn’t be missing. I ended up being able to iron those mistakes out and then I started to play good tennis. I got into a good return spell and then obviously if I’m able to return him, naturally my service games would be won easier too and that’s what happened so it was it a good first set and even the second set at 6-1 doesn’t tell the truth and the third as well. It was a close match, if I could get a bit lucky – I wouldn’t say take the better decisions because I think I did – I felt it was very close. Maybe the result doesn’t show as much but I thought I was right here.
 

Q. Compared to Paris, Rome, Monte Carlo; how high is Rafa’s top spin bouncing here in Madrid and how do you feel your backhand did against it? A. I thought I played well. I’m always going to make mistakes with my backhand and from my forehand because that’s what I have to do. I’m not just going to push it into play and hope I play good for the stats and lose two and two. So that’s not the idea behind playing Rafa. I have to take the ball early, I have to create things. Obviously he stands way beyond the baseline, I’m taking it on the rise, he’s also taking it on the rise but on the way back so he has time to react whereas obviously I’m taking the chances really because I’m trying to create the game and he’s playing with more spin and I’m playing more flat and that generates more mistakes. I think overall I played okay, I played the right way and at times it all worked and sometimes it didn’t just because of Rafa’s high level of play. He plays from start to finish on clay really solid on clay and that was to be expected.
 

Q. You had a chance to break back on the third; do you think it was one of the key points of the match? A. I had more chances. I don’t know what happened at the beginning of the third right now. Clearly it would’ve been nice to get back to 5-4 maybe it was, and you never know. Clearly it was a long way back and yeah, messed up the return – that´s what happened.