The Swiss superstar, who had promised to “party like rock stars” after beating Rafael Nadal for his 18th Grand Slam championship crown, arrived bleary eyed and husky-voiced at the champions’ photo shoot at the elegant Carlton Gardens on Monday afternoon.
“We started late, or super early in the morning,” said Federer on Monday. “We made it home by sunrise, which was good. It was nice to see the sun rise over Melbourne, get into the room, so it was a long night but a lot of fun. Everyone was in such a good mood, it was a special day, a special couple of weeks and finished off in a great way, being silly and having a lot of fun. Forgetting about everything, all the pressure went away.”
Federer said he felt OK, but he was tired for the traditional championship photo shoot.
“My legs hurt like mad and my back's stiff now, too, because I couldn't take any treatment, plus I was dancing," he said. "I'm still on the high. I'm going to crash eventually but that's OK.”
Federer, who had experienced a six-month injury lay-off only to return at the Australian Open, admitted it was especially gratifying as it was his first major trophy since his second set of twins, Leo and Lenny, were born on 6 May 2014.
“This is my first Slam win with the boys, they weren't born when I won in 2012, so that's special for Mirka and myself that I was able to do it,” said Federer, who also has girl twins, Myla and Charlene (born 23 July 2009). “The girls were just super excited to see the trophy. They will probably forget one day what happened, but at the same time they were happy that I'm happy.
“I saw them this morning. As I walked in, they woke up. Bit of a weird moment but still so great because they were all in such a good mood as they woke up and I came in walking in with the trophy. It was an amazing half-hour right there.”
Today, Federer rose seven spots to No. 10 in the ATP Rankings. He had dropped to No. 16 on 7 November 2016, falling out of Top 10 for the first time in 734 weeks (14+ years).
“I don’t know how much I slept, but you know I had to look at some highlights again to know how close the match was, and go through the emotions again,” said Federer. “What makes me most happy is when I see my friends and family so happy, my support team, everybody who was there.
“When I saw them celebrating again it really made it emotional when I heard people in Switzerland were following me and I saw people being really happy for me, that I won a slam again and particularly this one. It’s a bit of a fairytale to come back this way.”
Federer said he would take time to reflect and let his body recover before his next tournament in Dubai from February 27. After that he'd play Indian Wells and Miami before a European clay court schedule he hadn't yet fully planned. He said he was aiming to play the French Open before moving to the grass court season and Wimbledon, saying: “I know I'll have a better shot there.”
Federer also said he'd “have a good chance to do well" at the U.S. Open, and is still hoping to add another Australian Open title next year.
“I hope to be back next year of course,” he said. “That's why I took the six months off to hope I can still be playing for a couple of years.”
Date: 31 January 2017, Source: ATP and AP
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