2011 Australian Open: Swiss maestro Roger Federer enters the semifinals
Seeded second at the 2011 Australian Open, Swiss man Roger Federer booked his berth in the semifinals of the men's singles draw, defeating compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka. Roger got off to a good start, initiating the match with
a 6-1 win in the first set following it up with a 6-3 win in the second set. However, Wawrinka was eliminated from the championship upon losing 3-6 to Federer in the deciding third set of the match.
The Swiss maestro will be opposed by Serb Novak Djokovic in the semifinals on 27 January. Djokovic made it through after defeating the sixth seed, Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. Losing 1-6, 6-7 and 1-6, Berdych
was sent home as Nole advanced to the following round.
Fluent in English, Swiss, French and German, Federer stated that his sense of humour is different depending upon what language is running in his mind at the time. The downside however, is that Federer is required to speak in all
languages during post-match press conferences.
“Sometimes I wish I never told anybody I learned French or something like that,” Federer said, adding quickly that he’s proud to have learned the language and all the others because it gives him a chance to relate to more people
than he could otherwise. It is all part of what I have to do in the tennis world. That it comes at a cost, sure, but I don’t mind it. I try to have fun with it,” said Federer.
One of the languages Federer does not speak is that of on-court rival, Rafael Nadal of Spain. Roger said that the two have become friendlier over the years and in spite of the fact that they do not hang out together, they talk
and see each other regularly. “We talk about many things, but tennis probably being one of them at times, yeah," said Roger.
In addition, Federer stated, “I have almost, I don’t want to say characters, but I have different humour in all the different languages, which is kind of fun for me, too. Getting to know myself through different languages is actually
quite interesting for me.”
Tags: