Transcript

David:

Roger Federer, who's getting ready to play at the US Open in New York is, for my money, the greatest men's tennis player of all time. He's won 20 Grand Slam titles. He spent 310 weeks ranked number one in the world. And just look at the guy, even at 38, which is pretty old for professional tennis, he is a dominant figure. Part of his greatness resides above his shoulders. He has an unmatchable court intelligence and temperament, which is why it was a little shocking when Federer's match against Novak Djokovic at the final at Wimbledon last month ended with a stunning and very unusual mistake.



Speaker 2:

[crosstalk 00:00:41]



Speaker 3:

[inaudible 00:00:42]



Speaker 4:

Novak Djokovic.



Speaker 3:

[inaudible 00:00:49]



Speaker 4:

For a fifth Wimbledon title.



David:

Now, I know this is not a pleasant moment or a pleasant memory for you, but the Wimbledon final in July. You've won Wimbledon eight times, that's more than any other men's player. And this year you played in the final against Novak Djokovic, and it was an amazing match, and arguably you outplayed them. It was the longest final in Wimbledon history, but it ended in a pretty shocking way. You had match point in the fifth set, and it's got to be said, you mishit the ball and just shanked it into the stands, and Djokovic goes on to win. Tell me about that moment the ball that hits your racket and you watch it fly off into the stands, and you seem so contained. But how do you describe the sense of disappointment or whatever it was after so many hours and so much effort and so much beautiful play?



Roger Federer:

That's tough. It's tough. Just because, like you said, I thought it was a great match. I played really good, had all my chances, won more points than he did and then to end up losing the way I did really made me more angry than anything because I really felt like could've, should've done it. But that's how it goes sometimes. I'm very quick to analyze a match like this. I got over the finals very, very easily, very quickly, to be honest, because it's just part of it-



David:

So you weren't miserable to be around for the next few days after. You didn't have to avoid your kids, and they didn't have to avoid you. You were-



Roger Federer:

No.



David:

... okay?



Roger Federer:

Yeah. I actually slept in a camper van Monday night. So I lost Sunday, we went back all as a family. On Monday we went on a camping trip, so there was no avoiding the family. Of course, I woke up Tuesday morning, it is now, incredibly just tired and drained still from the match and just from having a bad night's sleep in the caravan because I have never slept in a caravan before. But it was so much fun. We had the best time, and I'm so happy we did it. But we did say that next time if we do it, it may be better not to do it after a five-hour battle with Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon finals.



David:

When you're playing in a big match, are you having fun or is that too, too childish a word to bring to what activity is on a big stage?



Roger Federer:

I think it is fun, but I see what you're trying to say. I also do sense that sometimes because it's so important and to some extent so serious. It's maybe not as much fun as you think it is, but the challenge is fun. Having those butterflies before walking out on court is... interesting. I don't say it's fun because that's maybe something I will not miss, but yet I will miss it because it's a exhilarating feeling, and it's something you don't get when you're playing video games, or I don't know what.



Roger Federer:

It's just it comes about because the pressure is so high playing in front of a live audience. Of course, sometimes you play less good, but all I want to do then is maybe if things really not going well because that just sometimes happens... doesn't happen nearly as enough as I thought it would when I will be at this age, but for me it's more about is at least make my opponent beat me. Make him earn it and then at least I can walk out and say, Okay, got a guy who's better today, wasn't maybe my day," whatever the reasons were. But, yeah, fun is always there, but it comes and goes, I guess, a little bit at that level.



David:

Some fans may not know that when you were a kid, you had a pretty volcanic temper on the court and you willed that away. When you watched John McEnroe play or now Nick Kyrgios or somebody like that, you see them lose it on the court, how do you relate to that kind of temperament on the court, which is so alien to you?



Roger Federer:

Well, I laugh about it because I think it's actually good. It's good that guys are showing their temper. Well, I can totally relate to it because that's how I felt when I was younger, and it's nice to see it still exists. I'm also something more like this-



David:

You used to smash rackets.



Roger Federer:

I used to smash rackets, throw rackets, but very clever so I wouldn't break the racket. I would throw it into the fence. I would throw it over the fence or into the tree, or I don't know what I would do but not onto the ground where it would break, and I would have to explain myself to my parents and my sponsor maybe and ask for another racket because I smashed it.



Roger Federer:

I don't know. Look, I understand that people get upset because it happens to me still in practice nowadays. When nobody's watching, I get super frustrated as well sometimes because tennis is just a sport where you're going to make mistakes. I don't care who you are, they just happen. I just didn't want to be that kind of player with that attitude because I just felt so drained once I was midway through a tournament. I was so tired from getting upset, from shouting, commentating every ball I missed. For the sake of winning, I changed my attitude. I think basically that's what I did.



David:

Athletes who have a long career change. Muhammad Ali, when he started off as a professional fighter was just unbelievably fast. He had the speed of a lightweight and the power of a heavyweight. Later on, he changed his tactics. He became more of a, he paced himself differently. As a tennis player and somebody who's 38, what is it that you cannot do anymore? What have you had to give up?



Roger Federer:

Well, for me it's been not sad, but a bit unfortunate that I had to give up in my spare time going to do other sports. When I was younger, I remember I used to go play squash with my friends for hours after a game, or I would go play ping pong even before a match, or I used to go skiing after the Australian Open back in Switzerland. And all of a sudden you're like, "Well, maybe I should stop that just because I don't want to end my career that way. I don't want to break my knee or." And then you give it up and actually you realize, well, I can find something else that's a lot of fun as you organize yourself your life differently.



Roger Federer:

All of a sudden you have children. So, instead of going, I don't know where we're going to play squash, well, now you maybe go run around in the park and play hide and seek and play catch. So, I don't know, it becomes a totally different life that you're living. But, yeah, I mean I do miss the years where I was a teenager too, and I just did anything just because I could, and I was still trying to understand what does professionalism really mean.



David:

I notice sometimes at a tournament you'll drop a set and pretty decisively in the very beginning. You're almost getting warmed up. You start to think, well, maybe the difference between Federer and this other guy he's playing is not so significant. And then the tide just completely turns, which leads me to think that maybe the biggest difference between somebody who's at your level or Djokovic's level or Nadal's, and then the next layer down is more mental than physical. Do you see that, that's the case?



Roger Federer:

Not so much, to be honest. I think actually margins are much slimmer than people think they are. If you win 53% or 55% of the points, you are winning the match and actually dominating if you're winning 55 or 60% of the points played. If I'd ask you now how much do you think I win of all the points played, you would think maybe 70%, if you're winning 6-4, 6-3, but actually it's much less than that.



Roger Federer:

I think what you want to try to create as a player is that you're not playing at the limit of things that, that your base is so high that you can always rely on it and that you have several strengths in your game, that if one also goes away that you still can absorb it with a different shot, let's say. I think that's what separates the absolute great and the best of our game to the other players, is that we can rely on several things to keep us alive in a match.



David:

What drives your obsession for tennis right now? Is it records? Is it do you need the thrill of winning a tournament over and over again? Is it money? What is it?



Roger Federer:

Yeah. I mean sometimes the motivation can be records. Sometimes it is beating the new generation. Sometimes it is proving to myself that I can do it again, and I mean just in my heart I just like playing tennis. It may be practice or matches, I like being out there. As long as I'm really enjoying myself and I feel that way, I think it's nice to keep on playing and sort of really squeezing that last drop of lemon out of it and not leaving the game of tennis feeling like I could've or should've stayed longer on the tour because I feel like I missed out.



David:

Now, when you're playing you've got a life of activity and busyness and upheaval and attention and press and all the rest, and then when you stop, you stop. When you think ahead to that point, whatever it is, when you're 40, when you're 45, God knows, what will life be like and are you looking forward to that?



Roger Federer:

It will be different. It will be different for sure. I don't think I will have a major struggle being away from the game of tennis that I love so much because I feel like I was able to keep really great friendships throughout my career. So I think that's going to catch me in a nice way coming back to a more normal life, a more structured life. I think I'll be in business in some shape or form. I hope to be in tennis also, just at least a little bit. I could see myself in a mentoring role. I don't see myself commentating or coaching per se, but helping and giving tips and advice, totally I can see that. Philanthropy, of course, my foundation's super important to me, so I know I will do be doing that in the future. I know I will be living in Switzerland, my home, where all my friends are. I love my country so much.



David:

Now, David Foster Wallace, we remember best as a novelist, also wrote a lot about tennis. He was a big tennis player, and he was a fan of yours, and that's putting it lightly. In a piece in the New York Times, he said that watching you play tennis was like a religious experience, and that on the court that you looked like, and I'm quoting here, "A creature whose body is both flesh and somehow light." How do you respond when somebody writes something like that about you? Is it thrilling or embarrassing or what?



Roger Federer:

Yeah, it's a bit embarrassing. I remember the interview with him, and I walked away from the interview thinking like, Ooh, I don't know if this piece is going to be a most incredible piece or the worst piece. It was really hard to tell, and he wrote this most unbelievable piece about me that almost got me definitely a bit embarrassed because at the end of the day, I'm just a tennis player. But I know that tennis in the theater, sort of feeling we have, we can hear a pin drop. It can be quite a magical sort of feeling for somebody who's not a tennis player, and even for us it's a great reminder sometimes playing these great arenas around the world what people think and feel watching sports, and I get it too because I'm also a sports fan. I also watch it and I get maybe more nervous watching other sports than actually playing it myself.



David:

You're coming to New York to play in the US Open very soon, and the difference between the atmosphere at, I don't know, strawberries and cream Wimbledon and a beer and a hot dog US Open is pretty different. Sometimes it seems like the difference between, I don't know, a church service and feeding time at the zoo. How do you just to that? Is one place preferable to you?



Roger Federer:

Well, I think the church is more consistent, let's put it that way, but I love playing there. I love playing in New York. Crowds have been always terrific with me, and I can't wait to come back this year.



David:

Well, I look forward to it, Roger, and thank you so much.



Roger Federer:

It's my pleasure. Thank you, David. I hope I see you there.



David:

Roger Federer is playing in his 19th US Open this week.