US Open: Roger Federer - "The Grigor I Expected"
Roger Federer's trip to the 2019 US Open ended Tuesday shortly before midnight local time. The Swiss did not want to make excuses after losing to Grigor Dimitrov.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Sep 04, 2019, 06:17 pm
By Jens Huiber from New York City
So it remains: Roger Federer has been waiting for a success at the US Open since 2008. The omens to at least reach the final in the current tournament were very favorable after Novak Djokovic's departure. Grigor Dimitrov, then Stan Wawrinka or Daniil Medvedev - the Swiss has done quite well with these opponents in the past.
So it was the Bulgarian who gave the winner interview at Arthur Ashe Stadium with Darren Cahill, who also commented on the strange situation that neither of his two coaches, Radek Stepanek and Andre Agassi, were in New York with him. One calls on the phone every day - apparently a recipe that washed Dimitrov, who had recently been in doubt, into the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament.
Victories as a motivation for Federer
Roger Federer, meanwhile, was already on the way to Interview Room 1, a course that players only like to take on after a successful day's work. And Federer had emphasized this over and over again in the past few days: At the age of 38, he was mainly still in the tennis circus because he was successful. With a victory rate of 50 percent, he would no longer take the trouble of profit.
# BETATHOMEUS #
The 20-time major winner had taken a medical break before the fifth set, the neck had to be set up briefly. Not the reason for the defeat. "I was able to play," said Federer. "That's how it works sometimes. I tried my best. It was nowhere near as bad that I should have given up. Grigor managed to defeat me. I struggled with everything I had available. That's all. And that's ok too. "
Dimitrov on Friday against Medvedev
Dimitrov had gone into the Tuesday evening match with a 0: 7 record, after losing the third set it looked like the eighth defeat for the Bulgarian. However, Federer did not take his opponent lightly. "It was the grigor that I expected. In the past, he returned against me a little further back. ”This time Dimitrov acted more aggressively as a setback. “He has the arsenal to do many different things. And he did a great job tonight. Grigor played well. "
The Bulgarian are now facing Daniil Medvedev on Friday for the first time in a Grand Slam final. The next highlight for Roger Federer is the Laver Cup. The Basel bidder does not yet know exactly what will come next. “Shanghai, Basel, maybe Paris, London. This is what the plan looks like now. I'm happy to have a little break now. "