After loss, Roger talks life lessons

Indian Wells, March 20

After his first defeat of the year, to Juan Martin del Potro in the final of the Indian Wells Masters, Roger Federer seemed very dissatisfied and edgy. Sunday night’s loss seemed to bother him very much, probably because he had three match points on his own serve at 5-4 in the third set. As he talked with the media, with a “beardy look”, he seemed sad and wistful at missing the chances he had.

As Federer said, not closing a match on his own serve is something rare for him. 

“I feel frustrated, that I let an opportunity like this go by. Serving 40-15, any game, I’d probably win. I don’t know what the stat is — 90-something percent? So, it should sting for a bit,” he said. “The question is how long? It wouldn’t be long, but it’s disappointing talking about a great match like this losing — even though I was right there.”

Talking about a match point that he could not convert, he said: “You have Juan Martin come in (to the net), and having to hit something past him that’s very uncomfortable to him, you pick the wrong side. And I’m like — why am I picking the wrong side?”

Fed’s philosophy

Federer was philosophical when asked about his journey as a tennis player, and him being a role model. “The important thing is to take the right decisions... You’ve to be happy with what you have,” he said. “You can always try to want more and have more. But you might never be happy when you search for things like this. I’ve been content for a long, long time on the Tour. I guess ever since I became world No. 1 back in 2004, won Wimbledon in 2003, my life was complete as a tennis player. Those were my dreams as a little kid. So that’s why retirement can wait, I’m just enjoying the ride.”

He also said the journey, or playing tennis, has not been as easy as he makes it look even at age 37. “Having problems of my own in 2016, people saw that it has not always come easy for me as well,” Federer said. “People like to see the easy part, how I make it look easy. But it’s not always like that. For nobody is it like that at the top.” — Agencies