Federer discusses feeling sorry for opponents after victory over Londero in Cincinnati: 'In the juniors maybe I felt bad sometimes'

Wednesday, 14 August 2019 at 12:52

Roger Federer has had an imperious career including winning 102 tour-level titles, 1,223 match wins and lots of other accolades but in an interview after his victory over Juan Ignacio Londero at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati he even admitted to feeling bad for opponents sometimes.

He said that this happened in the juniors and that he couldn't put his finger on why this was the case. But that is why he is pleased for someone when they do well as they can't all reach the top.

The World No. 3 who overcame Londero 6-3, 6-4 added that for him to be able to make a living out of what you want to do is the best part of it no matter where you are.

“In the juniors maybe I felt bad sometimes, just because I did. Don't know why,” Federer said. “Afterwards, I guess it's part of the business. You want everybody to do well, and that's why I'm generally happy when somebody does well, because not everybody can attain whatever it is [they are aiming for], but what you can attain is the best of yourself.”

“I think probably if you ask a lot of the guys on the Tour, they'd say, ‘I probably did much better than I expected’, because the dream is, of course, to be Top 100, Top 10, World No. 1, winning tournaments and all that stuff. But to be able to make a living from what you wanted to do, I think that's the cool bit,” Federer said.

On achieving success

Federer went on to say that for him you've got to do what makes whoever is important proud and that no matter where you are in the sport he believes that they are a champ.

“That's when sometimes it gets a bit rough. All of a sudden you achieve your dream and you have been told you're terrible because you didn't win so-and-so. You're like, ‘Okay, you know what? Get lost. I don't care what you say.

“You've got to do what you can do best and make yourself proud, your family, your country, whatever it is. And in tennis, very quickly, take another sport, but if you're [the] No. 100 best player or athlete or whatever of your sport, you're a champ. In tennis you say, ‘Oh, he's just 100’, and I disagree with that.”

https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/1161423199416045569?s=20

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