My revival? I've worked harder than Murray and the others
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2588274/ROGER-FEDERER-INTERVIEW-I-worked-hard-season-led-revival.html#ixzz2xqZNOUSH
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It is easy to see why Roger Federer is still intoxicated by playing tennis and why, even after 15 years on tour, he is marching back to reclaim his place inside the world’s top four.
Here, amid the glitz of South Florida and the Sony Open, they still line up four or five deep along a pathway 50 metres long merely to see this immaculately measured and sensible man of Switzerland walk off the practice court.
Then there are the contrasts this life of his brings. Back in the sanctuary of the Crandon Park stadium court’s interiors, he pops in to talk to a seriously ill boy of 15 who is there to meet the players as part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Revival: Roger Federer is on the verge of returning to the world's top four after a series of strong performances
Popular: The 17-time grand slam champion signs autographs for fans in Miami
The boy and his family are so awestruck they can barely speak but, stumbling across this scene, you cannot fail to notice how Federer puts them at ease, chivvying the conversation along and inviting them to attend his next practice.
And then he has to sit down with one of those journalists who has written that the only Grand Slam they could ever see him winning again, at a stretch, is Wimbledon.
The confession that you have been, respectfully, one of his doubters, meets with phlegmatic acceptance rather than one of the verbal darts that he most surely possesses. Federer, 32, knows there are those who question him.
Dressed to impress: Roger Federer attends a Moet and Chandon function in Miami
Changes: Federer has recovered from a number of back problems and is now using a bigger racket
ROGER'S RESURGENCE
January – Final of Brisbane Open. Semi-finals of Australian Open, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round then Andy Murray in the quarter-final, before losing to Rafael Nadal.
February – Wins Dubai Open, beating Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals and Tomas Berdych in the final.
March – Loses final of Indian Wells Masters to Djokovic 3-6, 6-3, 7-6. Plays Richard Gasquet in last 16 of Miami Masters.
‘You hear about it. I don’t know who wrote what, it’s just a vibe. I don’t have any problems sitting down to talk to people and that’s why I’m sitting down with you,’ he says.
‘What I don’t like is when people don’t understand why I’m not playing so well. So I come out like I did in Gstaad last summer and say I’m having problems with my back. It’s not an excuse and I don’t like talking about injuries anyway, people don’t need to know my problems.
‘So they see you playing and see you struggling and they think this is your normal form. On any given day I always know I can play great tennis but last year I couldn’t even do that. I could do it for maybe a set and a half. That’s when the confidence gets lost and that’s when maybe people find it hard to understand.’
Team: Federer with his coach Stefan Edberg on the practice courts at the Sony Open in Miami
Federer is through to the fourth round of the Sony Open, as is Andy Murray, who will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The Swiss puts his resurgence, which will almost certainly see him regain his place in the top four next week, down to a quartet of factors: a restored back, a good off-season, the addition of Stefan Edberg to his team this year, and using an enlarged racket head.
‘December was crucial. I don’t want to say this in a cocky way but I believe I worked the hardest from the top eight in the off-season. Many guys went off to play exhibitions, or were in the Davis Cup. I had time, I put my head down and worked and I did it without any setbacks.
‘I played three straight weeks without any problems, ending at the O2 Arena. I thought if I could handle that and then all the December work and emerge in good shape with no problems that would be a great platform.’
He used the bigger racket non-stop in that time and it has given his strokes some extra ‘pop’ without apparently sacrificing control. Then there is Edberg.
Shock: Federer is hoping to bounce back from his early exit at Wimbledon last year when he returns this summer
Upset: The seven-time winner at SW19 was beaten by Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky
The two of them met in New York last August at a gala celebration for the past No 1s in ATP Tour history.
‘We actually ended up being the last two guys to leave. I wanted to have the chance to speak to him for 10 extra minutes. But it wasn’t until after I decided to split from Paul Annacone, my previous coach, that it came to my mind to approach him, maybe because I had seen him in New York.
‘It’s inspiring working with him. He is more like a mentor than a coach. He doesn’t do every week — I want it to be special with him whenever he is around because he is my childhood hero.
Champion: Federer won the title in Dubai last month after beating Tomas Berdych in the final
All the way: Federer finished runner-up in Indian Wells after losing in three sets to Novak Djokovic
‘But people go a bit far about his influence, every time I’m at the net they say, “That’s got to be Edberg”. It’s not like everything I do now is because of Stefan, it’s something deeper than that.’
Federer feels he has unfinished business this summer at Wimbledon after his shock early exit last year, which hurt him badly.
‘It was one of the season goals and when I fail I reassess: why did it happen? Is it training, mental, my team, is it just me? Do I need to change?
‘For me it was hard in itself because I truly believe I could have done something there. I wasn’t in pain. I had won less than two weeks before on grass in Halle. I think I would have at least have made the semis, but Sergiy Stakhovsky played well. Returning to Wimbledon this year I have much higher hopes.’
Young ones: Federer and his wife Mirka are expecting the birth of their third child
There will be an addition to the family later this year; his wife Mirka is expecting their third child. He will not divulge when the new arrival is due but at a guess it will not be until after Wimbledon. ‘Only my wife knows,’ he smiles.
Instead of gracing the All England Club in the second week last year he took a family trip to the Maldives. The holiday was nearly derailed when the Federers discovered that they did not have valid passports on them. ‘It was a total disaster,’ he says. ‘We had to go to the embassy in London and get some emergency passports. I needed to go to the beach and free my mind.’
One way or the other, that long-haul holiday is unlikely to be happening at the same time this year.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2588274/ROGER-FEDERER-INTERVIEW-I-worked-hard-season-led-revival.html#ixzz2xqZNOUSH
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