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I`ll get over it, Federer says of US Open loss
Losing his US Open title and 41-match winning streak was a huge blow, but Roger Federer says he will spend no time in brooding over it.
New York: Losing his US Open title and
41-match winning streak was a huge blow, but Roger Federer
says he will spend no time in brooding over it.
The Swiss star was finally beaten at Flushing Meadows for
the first time in six years, going down 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 4-6,
7-6 (7/4), 6-2 to an inspired Juan Martin del Potro yesterday.
The player who is widely viewed as the greatest player of
all time was clearly in low spirits at his post-match press
conference, but he said he had more reasons to be happy than
sad.
"This one I think is easy to get over just because I`ve
had the most amazing summer," he said.
"I tried everything, you know. Didn`t work. I missed
chances. He played well and in the end it was a tough fifth
set. It`s acceptable. But life goes on. No problem."
Federer`s comments reflected his magnificent run through
the summer, during which he finally completed his career Grand
Slam at the French Open and then took the all-time lead in
Grand Slam titles to 15 with his win at Wimbledon.
More joy came in late July when Federer and wife Mirka
celebrated the start of a family with the birth of twin girls.
"Unbelievable. Unbelievable run. Being in all major
finals and winning two of those, and losing the other two in
five sets."
"Sure, I would have loved to win those two as well. Being
so close, I think I was two points away from the match today,"
Federer said.
"That`s the way it goes sometimes. But the year has been
amazing already and it`s not over yet. Got married and had
kids, don`t know how much more I want."
Still, the manner of Federer`s defeat came as a suprise
as, in contrast to the French Open where he struggled all the
way, the Swiss star had looked imperious throughout the
fortnight.
The wins in Paris and London appeared to have lifted a
weight off his shoulders and he was once again playing with
the flair and panache that marked his game in 2006 and 2007,
when he won three out of the four Grand Slam titles in each
year.
What changed between his impressive semi-final demolition
of Novak Djokovic and his loss to Juan Martin del Potro, a
player seven years his junior, was hard to decipher for
Federer.
He said that his new responsibilities as a father and the
travel complications of moving them and his wife over from
Swizerland to North America for the hardcourt season had not
posed a problem.
Neither had Del Potro`s play been that different from
previous meetings between the two although Federer did concede
that the Argentinian was "rock solid".
But he did admit that he had finished the tournament and
the year`s last Grand Slam in dire need of a good rest.
"I`m tired. Sometimes they (majors) hit you more than
other ones," he said.
"Maybe here with the whole music thing, it`s maybe
different. I don`t get hit emotionally as bad maybe in
Wimbledon and Australia where it becomes super quiet at the
end of the games and you have a lot of things going through
your mind.
"Here it`s music, so your mind goes to the music instead
of the match."
Next up, he said, would be a long rest period followed by
getting prepared for the Masters events in Madrid and Paris
followed by the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals which will
be held for the first time at London in November.
"Next year, I have sort of a plan in place obviously," he
added.
"I only look more or less to Australia, and after that, I
don`t know."
Bureau Report
Bureau Report