Then he was told that Landon Donovan, America’s great soccer star, was in the players’ lounge and would like to say hello. So Roger met with Donovan and his family, having the inevitable photos taken and then engaging Landon in a long chat about European soccer and the teams he had played for – Everton in England and Bayern Munich. Federer is a huge Basle FC fan and had often watched Donovan play. Instead of a quick “Hello, nice to meet you," the conversation lasted over a quarter of an hour.
I had arranged to meet with Federer for an article I am writing for the Wimbledon program and, once he had said goodbye to Donovan and his wife, he switched his focus to me, looking me in the eye and talking about the subject in question with total recall and concentration.
When we had finished, we watched the end of Wawrinka’s victory over Dominic Thiem on TV and chatted a bit about the demands of the media on players. Most of my colleagues agree that Federer is exceptionally courteous and patient in the way he answers every question on merit, often putting nervous young reporters at ease with the tone of his reply.
He suggested that it is something you get better at as the years go by, although he admitted to have found himself struggling when he came off court in Dubai last month, having suffered a shock early round loss to Evgeny Donskoy, after leading 5-1 in the third set tie-break and missing three match points.
“I was taken straight from the court, straight into the press room and barely had time to gather my thoughts,” he told. “I had not expected to lose and was upset about it. I had to tell myself to calm down and try to sound coherent because, mentally, I was all over the place.”
By his standards, Federer did look a little flustered during the interview but basically he made sense and got it done. He always does. He treats media obligations as part of his job and, mostly, seems to enjoy them. Obviously it is more fun when you win and, suddenly, Federer has been doing a lot of that.
