Commenting on being composed against Nadal…
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I don't know. You just get used to I guess playing in big matches. You know, I was really looking forward to playing Rafa today. I guess at the end of your career, they're the sort of matches that you remember. To get the chance to play against him on center court at the Australian Open is something I would have loved to have done when I was a kid growing up. You need to try and have that same sort of mentality when you start playing on the tour, in the big matches, you know, you have to remember how you felt when you were young. These matches don't come around that often. When they do, you have to make sure you enjoy them.  Obviously, I was very focused and concentrated tonight, but definitely enjoyed myself.

Commenting on his comeback against Nikolay Davydenko…
ROGER FEDERER: Well, very much so. Was in a tough situation at 6‑2, 3‑1 down and 15‑40 on my serve. I knew I wasn't looking very good, you know.  But that's the beauty of best of five sets. I wasn't panicking, even though I maybe would have lost the second set had I lost another point there at that stage.  But, you know, I just relaxed and thought, you know, maybe if the sun goes and his level drops just a little bit, the whole thing might, you know, change for the better. It did. I couldn't believe the way it changed.  But I'm happy the way I was able to go on an incredible run and get the cushion with the extra break at the beginning of the fourth.

Commenting on reaching his 23rd consecutive Grand Slam semifinal…
ROGER FEDERER: No, I mean, it's incredible looking back on how many years that is now, you know, I'm able to deliver at Grand Slam play, especially, you know, this year. I think looking at the draw with Hewitt in the fourth round and Davydenko in the quarters, who has been on fire the last weeks and even today, you know, we saw big signs of it, why he's, you know, such a great player.  So for some reason I was just a bit worried I was not gonna make it this time in the semis. You always believe the streak is gonna be broken. I stopped thinking about it after the second round on and just started focusing on the tournament.  It helps once the tournament starts. You focus match for match and point for point, so I forget about the record. Now obviously that it's safe again and I've been able to add one. It's amazing. Definitely one of the most incredible things I have in my resume.

Commenting on whether he reads the newspapers and why he watches tennis matches on TV…
ROGER FEDERER: A little bit. Some days I do and some days I don't. Then I just like to listen to the commentary as well and see what they say. It's actually not really to study opponents. I watch it more as fan, I think.  I didn't watch last night's match going, Like, Hmm, that's interesting, you know, how they're playing. I couldn't care less. I just like to see a good tennis match and see how they battle it out and see the intensity of both players, you know, and watching how important it is for both of them to come through.  So I see it more that way than, What's he doing exactly when I play him next time? That would be for me way too stressful watching every single tennis match just thinking of my own game, how it would match up.

Commenting on whether she watched her sister, Venus, lose her quarterfinal match before she played hers…
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I saw maybe one or two points, maybe three. I don't want to watch too much. I get too nervous watching and my stomach is just sick. I get way too emotionally involved. So it's not really good for me to be watching her match before I play.  And, um, obviously I was incredibly disappointed. Yeah, just try not to deal with it.

Commenting on her quarterfinal loss to Na Li…
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, like I said, I felt really confident going into the match. And, obviously, you know, I felt confident throughout the match, even in the third. I was leading.  You know, like I said earlier, in tennis you have to close it out. It's not like there's a clock ticking and then suddenly it's over. You just have to close it out. I didn't do that today.  It's really important, obviously.

Responding to whether she will watch a replay of her loss to Na Li…
VENUS WILLIAMS: Watching a replay of matches, wins and losses, is part of my training, if I can get a hold of them. Here they give you 'em.  I watch 'em. I keep 'em, too, so 20 years from now when I look back, see my glory days.

After winning her semi to reach the final, commenting on her rivalry with Serena Williams…
JUSTINE HENIN: Well, I think a lot of respect for who she is, what she did. She is a real champion. She proved it again in this tournament. Has been in trouble, and she had the reaction of, yeah, the greatest champions. A real fighter. Never gives up. And I think she really helped the game to come at another level. And she really helped women's tennis a lot. She's still there with an amazing attitude.  I think we respect each other a lot for that. We're both real fighters. We want to win. And I think maybe we helped each other, yeah, to get better. So it's a good one.

Commenting on her time away from tennis while she was retired…
JUSTINE HENIN: We all have different kind of issues personally. I had to forget a little about tennis and just get some air and breathe differently. Tennis has been my whole life. I think there is something else than that.  It's more than answers. It's just time to get open to different kind of things. Like I said, I had different kind of projects, met a lot of people, traveling for UNICEF, of course. I mean, I learned a lot of things in these experiences.  Probably the answer I got is that I started to trust myself much more as a person and I realized I could exist without tennis. So that was an important step for me.

Commenting after winning his semi about being in another Grand Slam final…
ANDY MURRAY: It's really important. I mean, after last year I had a few tough losses in the Grand Slams. You know, Wimbledon, I had a chance to make the final there. Lost a really, really tight match against Roddick.  It's nice. It's what you work for. It's why at the end of the season I go to train in Miami to try and give myself the opportunity to play in these slams. Obviously, I want to try and win one.

Commenting on having balance in her life…
SERENA WILLIAMS: It's important because once you get to that point where you hit one forehand too many, it can be detrimental. And I think I'm there.  But that's why I always do design and fashion, because right when I'm there, you know, I take my little break. I make sure I have my schedule where I do have breaks and where I don't play certain tournaments.  You know, I think it's important to just have a normal life because at the end of the day I'm not going to be playing till I'm a hundred. Actually, I probably won't be here till I'm a hundred.

Replying whether she feels she has hit “one forehand too many”…
SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, uhm, at times. But then if I don't hit it, I get crazy. I need to be on the tennis court or else I'm not going to be happy.

Commenting after beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in three quick sets in the semis whether he felt it was a boring match…
ROGER FEDERER: Not really. I don't think for myself it wasn't boring at all. For me it was very challenging bringing it over the finish line. Last time I played him, probably most of the entire stadium didn't know I was up 6‑1, 5‑1 and ended up losing.  That wasn't a boring match for me either. Ended up being a horrible match. I didn't want the same thing happening. So for me it was trying to put the hammer down and like finish him off. I was able to.  Here I am sitting very relaxed and excited about the finals, not still battling it out there. It was a great match. I'm happy.

Commenting after losing the final to Serena Williams…
JUSTINE HENIN: Of course disappointed, I mean, when you lose in the final of a Grand Slam, especially in three sets, and I got a few opportunities that I haven't been able to take.  But this feeling of disappointment cannot take, you know, uhm, advantage on all the things I've done in the last few weeks. And it's just more than what I could expect for. I just have to remember that.  Even if it's quite soon after the match now, I'm sure there will be a lot of positive things I can think about in a few days. Uhm, it's been almost perfect. Just the last step, I couldn't make it.  Yeah, it's mixed feeling at the moment. In a few hours I'm sure it's going to be much better.

Commenting after the final on her next steps…
JUSTINE HENIN: I'll keep a lot of good things. Now it's gonna be probably time for me to work a few more weeks and coming back in a few weeks. Just take some rest and then work again.  And I learned a lot of things in the last few weeks. Many things were positive in my game, on and off the court. I think I really enjoyed every moment of it.  But I also know the way is still long in terms of where I want to go as a tennis player, and I know I'll have to work harder. And I'm gonna do it, for sure. I mean, what I did was just amazing in the last few weeks. Maybe I could be home after the match against Dementieva, and I went all the way to the final. So I keep a lot of good things now.

Commenting on the mental part of the game and whether it’s innate or something one can develop…
JUSTINE HENIN: No, you work on it, of course. Even if probably when you have the determination and a lot of things, you have this at the beginning, but you can improve a lot. I mean, I improved a lot in that part of my game in the last few years, you know.  Now I have to probably work again on it. But in the past, I mean, I was quite fragile when I was younger, then got really stronger in the important situations. And Serena proved again that she has it.  But with the competition and these kind of match, I'm sure I'll learn a lot of things from this.

Commenting after beating Justine Henin to win the title…
SERENA WILLIAMS: I feel amazing. I feel like it happened but it hasn't happened, so it's really kind of cool. I really am in the moment right now…  It was definitely a tough match mentally and physically. I felt like we both were out there trying to kind of prove something. I think we both did at the end of the day.

Describing what it means to defend her title…
SERENA WILLIAMS: It's cool. I mean, I don't know. I feel kind of weird because I'm okay. I was totally okay with winning every other year. So I don't know if I'm guaranteed to win next year or not. So I don't know how I feel.  It's kind of like a love/hate relationship. I'm just really trying to enjoy the moment, and I feel really special that I was able to tie Billie Jean King. Because in my heart of hearts, I've been going for it and I haven't been able to quite achieve it.

Commenting on Billie Jean King…
SERENA WILLIAMS: Billie Jean is a really big mentor of mine. She was a Fed Cup coach at one time, which was super cool. We had so much fun. She even visited me before the match. She came in, she was like, How you going? She was look at all my strappings. I wasn't finished strapping yet.  She was just seeing all that was going on. She was like, Wow, you have a lot of stuff going on. I was like, Yeah. But it was good.

Commenting on how she’ll celebrate winning the title…
SERENA WILLIAMS: Uhm, you know, I never really celebrate, so…  I haven't thought about it yet. I'm really kind of in the moment. So I don't know. I was thinking about just hanging out with Venus, because she was really supportive out there today. I remember in the third set, I was down, and I heard her say, C'mon, Serena. It's okay, right here, right here.  And, honestly, that really got me pumped up. So maybe we'll watch a movie tonight.

Commenting on Federer’s play in the final…
ANDY MURRAY: No. I mean, I think his level is a lot more consistent, you know, in the slams. You know, I don't know. Maybe, you know, in the other tournaments he tries a few more things out.  But, you know, the shots that he hits great, you know, all year round, they're still great. You know, he just makes fewer unforced errors I think than he does the rest of the year.

Commenting on how aggressively he played…
ANDY MURRAY: Uhm, I think the second set was not good in that respect. The third set was a lot better. I started playing closer to the baseline, taking more chances. You know, in the beginning of the match, like I said, I had chances as well.  It's a different match, you know, against Roger. You know, with Rafa, he can hit the ball short. You know, he plays a lot of topspin. Roger hits the ball a lot flatter. You know, the ball comes onto you a lot quicker, so it's harder to go for huge shots against him.  You know, whereas against, you know, like in the important points, he can come up with big first serves. And Rafa, you know, his serve is very good, but you always have opportunities, you know, when he's serving. Tonight I didn't have as many.  But, you know, I mean, I thought in terms of my game style, it was right for a lot of the match and wrong for a few parts.

Describing the weight of expectations…
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I didn't feel it on the court. You know, you get a lot of good luck messages. You know, everyone wishing you well from back home. You know, that's obviously nice.  You know, once you get on the court, it's not what you're thinking about at all. And then obviously after the match, you know, I would have liked to have done it for everyone back home, you know, won the tournament. Obviously for myself and for the people I work with as well.  But it wasn't to be.

Commenting on his desire to win a Grand Slam title…
ANDY MURRAY: I'm hungry to win one. I haven't since I was 16, 17 years old when I started playing the junior Grand Slams. You know, I realized I wanted to win one of them, you know, when I was playing.  Like I say, I worked really, really hard to try to do it and give myself the opportunity. You know, so far it's not been good enough.  But I'm sure one day, uhm, it will be. When it comes, maybe because of the two losses, it will be even better.

Describing his strategy and approach to playing Andy Murray…
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, he's obviously a very patient man from the baseline, you know. I mean, I think this is how he made it to the top really. You know, not missing much, being dangerous, mixing up his pace very well, some loopier, some flatter. He can obviously go angle, hard down the line, as well as his backhand. I think that makes him particularly tough to play against.  I think the first set was very interesting on a mental and on a physical level. I thought he played at a very high intensity. I think the first set could have gone either way. So for me to get the first break and play well the way I did, and I think him as well, was obviously crucial for the match, you know, that we were both playing so well.  Somebody had to win the set. Thankfully it was me. I think I was hitting the ball well. I felt that from the start. So I always knew it was going to be a very intense match, you know. I'm happy I was able to play so aggressive and patient at the same time because that's what you got to be against Murray.

Commenting on how he’s been able to win so many Grand Slams…
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, look, there's no secret behind it. You know, I mean, definitely a very talented player (laughter). I always knew I had something special, but I didn't know it was like, you know, that crazy.  I definitely had to work extremely hard so I would pick the right shot at the right time. For instance, on the match point I decided to hit a dropshot. You got to be crazy to do that.  But I just -- you know, I always knew I had it in my hand. The question is do I have it in my mind and in my legs, you know. That's something I had to work extremely hard at. Now I feel like obviously I'm being pushed a great deal by the new generation coming up. I always feel sort of tennis changes sort of every five years.  Because when I came on tour, matches were played very differently. It was more of a bluff game, guys serving well, but there was always a weakness you could go to. Today that doesn't exist anymore. I think that's also thanks to guys like Murray. They've made me a better player, because I think this has been one of my finest performances, you know, in a long time, or maybe forever.

Commenting on whether winning a Grand Slam in 2010 is one of his goals…
ROGER FEDERER: Look, I mean, it's not something I've ever put in my mind that this is something I want to achieve. I'll still go and play the smaller tournaments, you know, the Masters 1000s, the ones we're supposed to play. I try to give my best everywhere I go to, because I think there's not only the Grand Slams.  Of course, they are important, but I try to respect every tournament that invites me to go play there. There's the fans who pay tickets. I want to live up to my expectations, too.  I won't just put the entire calendar just around trying to win the calendar Grand Slam. I mean, it's something if it happens, it does, it's great; but it's not something that's like my number one goal. Not at all. It's the same as I haven't put a number on how many Grand Slams I want to try to win. Whatever happens happens.  You know, I really want to try to enjoy, you know, my end to my career, because I've reached already so many goals I thought were never possible. I really want to just enjoy the tour, and that's what I'm doing at the moment. Obviously as a dad as well even more so.

Posted by TC at 11:52 PM |