"Clearly having
Rafa in Novak's section is the biggest news," he said during his "media
day" stint on Friday. "But you don't want to disrespect all the players
that are in between those two. We the players are very careful, because
there are tour professionals that are unbelievable players, and they get
forgotten in the process, which I think is a bit of a pity."
"Nadal
and Djokovic are not on my side of the draw, but they are, because at
the end of the day we are all playing the same tournament. Whether it's
in the semis or in the finals, if you lose, you lose at one point or
another. So my objective is to not lose. I may not play these players
right away, but I may have to play them later. It will be interesting to
see Rafa play Novak. Rafa is very difficult to beat. Except for
Soderling, I don't really know who else can do it."
With so many players in with a genuine
chance of going deep in the tournament this year, court conditions will
play a critical role throughout the fortnight. "When it's a little
slower it's better for Nadal," the 33-year-old Swiss explained. "That
way he is even less impressed by big servers. The same thing is true of
me. Typically we play more on the baseline. That's where he's really
strong physically, and mentally he knows how to find the right angles.
With five sets he has even more leeway and margin and the confidence
that no one else has here at Roland Garros. I think the players are
fully aware of this, but of course every single time he's back he has to
prove it again. His record is very incredible."
Talk
moved to Nadal's low (by his standards) ranking of No.7 and seeding of
No.6 (due to the withdrawal of Milos Raonic), but for Federer, changing
the seedings to reflect Nadal's dominance at Roland Garros over the past
decade is "the wrong debate. I don't think it was going to be bad for
Rafa because he's looking at defending his title whoever he has to play
through. It's going to affect Novak more in my opinion."
And
while Rafa and Novak are battling away in the top half, Roger will be
bidding to tip-toe his way through the bottom half, with no pitfalls in
his side of the draw until the likes of Gael Monfils in the fourth round
and compatriot Stan Wawrinka in the quarters. With a 61-15 record at
Roland Garros, Federer has the second most wins here (behind Nadal, who is 66-1). It would take quite an upset for him to overtake
Nadal, but few would bet against him getting into the late 60s by the
end of the fortnight.
Date: 22nd May 2015, Source: Roland Garros
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