Roger Federer Says Loss to Del Potro Was Turning Point of 2018

In an interview to Barbara Schett and Mats Wilander on Eurosport, Roger Federer commented on his 2018 season. He also spoke about the Indian Wells final loss to Juan Martin del Potro. According to him, wasting three match points may have influenced how the rest of his year went.

‘The Indian Wells final was one of the great matches for me last year, the crowd was really into, we were both angry at the umpire, there was everything and it could have gone either way for both of us earlier so in a way I was happy, I even had match points, he was happy that he got out of it’, said Federer.

‘So at the end of the day, we could look back and be really happy. My problem was in Miami, I could have played better but I lost to Kokkinakis in a similar fashion, I had my chances and then I think maybe I paid a price because I lost a nail-biter already in Indian Wells so maybe Miami was because of Indian Wells.

And then after that I did not play for three months, so things were different, I reacted well, I won in Stuttgart, I played okay in Halle, I played the finals against Coric, two really good points and then I lost with match points again at Wimbledon so all of a sudden four, five months go by and you find yourself in Cincinnati and I played another final actually, I played okay but not really as good against Djokovic, but all of a sudden Wimbledon stays there as a major, major disappointment, which it was, but in my view I still kept on playing very well.

The margins were small last year. This year it’s important for me that when crunch times come around that I play better because I feel like the second part of the season maybe was not as good.’

In the aftermath of the loss, he said, “I feel frustrated, you know, that I let an opportunity like this go by. Serving 40-15, any game I probably win – I don’t know what the stat is – 90-something per cent,” Roger Federer said, via the ATP World Tour.

“So it should sting, like you said, for a bit. The question is how long? It won’t be long, but it’s disappointing talking about a great match like this, losing, even though I was right there.

“Obviously there is not too much time to dwell over it. Like I said, I’m happy for Juan Martin.

“It’s a tough one. And I still had a good week here. I still see the positives at the end of the day.”

“It was a great match, honestly. Good fun. Good intensity. We enjoy that. And also it was tough and fair on the court. It was Juan Martin and myself,” he said.

“At the end you saw we are appreciative of the finals that we played against each other, which I think is really important for both of us.”