Roger Federer tries to explain to reporters why Rafael Nadal beat him so easily in the Rome final. Nadal won the match 6-1, 6-3 in only one hour and nine minutes; it is the least amount of games he has ever lost to Federer in a two-out-of-three set match. Nadal once beat Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 at Roland Garros.
“I didn’t play offensive and then he puts me far back with the ball and so you have to use your opportunities and he does an incredible job returning from the back of the court. It is hard to do because he covers the court so well and you need to serve accurate and then he battles on the baseline. This is when Rafa is at his best and so he created opportunities within the rally and I don’t want him to dictate, so I try to a better job of it but it was difficult to change it around and difficult to get into.”
Federer also snapped at a reporter who suggested that his service speed had gone down to an average 174 kilometers with his first serve and 160 with his second serve. Federer asked the reporter in Rome if a 160 KPH serve was supposed to be slow; the reporter responded that people on Twitter were saying it was only average.
“[Jerzy] Janowicz serves at 225 but I am not that guy and I work my points differently and the radar is not always the story,” Federer said. “Ask Rafa if I served slow and he will silence the Twitter world, your friends.”