Paul Annacone on Roger Federer
Q: Seeing Roger so dominant today against Stan Wawrinka, you must be
extremely optimistic for the rest of the event.
PA: Every day is different unfortunately. But yeah, he mixed it up well, and did a good job getting control of the match early. I was very happy with the way he played. Stan's had a great tournament, so to come out and play like that is a good effort. The first set was important, but it's a long match and a lot can happen. But it's always better to be ahead and behind in my opinion. I think he did a good job early, the momentum went his way and he was able to push it through.
Q: Roger has been playing extremely well since the last part of 2010. Why is this so in your view?
PA: I wish I could say it was a magic potion. But it's not. He's a great player. He's done a lot of hard work and he loves to play. It's a pretty simple recipe for him.
Q: How would you compare working with Roger and with the other champions you have coached?
PA: Actually some similarities to him and Pete (Sampras). They're able to focus on what's happening in front of their face and have a great perspective on what's going on. There are not huge fluctuations when they win or lose. The dramatisation doesn't happen with them, which is great. They all work hard and love the game. The most important thing is that they're immensely talented and know what they need to do to be successful and stick to it pretty well.
Q: How do you see your role helping Roger?
PA: I'm just one of a group of guys helping Roger. Severin (Luthi) and I talked last night. We talk all the time. When I'm not there, he's there, we're on the phone and we stay in touch with each other. We relay the same messages to Roger. My job is to do whatever I can to figure out the best way to make him play his best tennis. Ultimately it's up to him out there to do it. We talk strategy, training, we talk everything and then he goes out and executes and he's done a real good job with that.
Q: One of the main things we hear is that you have been encouraging Roger to come in more, to attack.
PA: Yes it's true. The guy's a great athlete and he can do a lot of things at the highest level. So now it's mostly a matter of managing those things. When he plays offensive like that, there are not a lot of guys that can do it as his level. But the good news is when he's off a little, he can play different styles. That's great.
Q: Roger's been using the drop shot a lot more in the last couple of years, and even more now as we saw today. How do you view the importance of that shot in his arsenal.
PA: Well, it's effective as you can see. The thing is he's so powerful that he backs guys up. To me you want them to have to cover as many areas on the court as you can. If you're backing them up, then you bring them in sometimes. Again, it's about managing those things and picking the right time to use it. Maybe it's more prominent because he's playing more offensively.
Q: How important was the match against Simon where he came so close to losing in the second round?
PA: It's always good to win a close match. For all those guys when they can get...you don't want to have five of those matches, but to have one or two is fine. He fully recovered and it's not a problem, so I think it's always great to be in that pressure situation and get through it. That's a real good omen for him.
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