Roger Federer places 2017 AO win over Rafa in his five biggest triumphs
It would be beautiful to leave Australia with my 100th title. I will try my very best, the last season was another great one for me just like 2017, but this is a new one. It started great at the Hopman Cup in Perth and Im feeling really good in practice here so far in Melbourne, so yeah, it would be great to win the Australian Open and I will do my best, we will see.
The win against Rafa in 2017 final here is definitely among my top-five wins, it was like a fairy tale. Doing the interview for the Australian TV, I will give that to you (laugh). I think emotions are nice and I maybe came to realize a long time ago when I had my really big first emotional win, maybe when I bet Sampras at Wimbledon 2001, I couldnt believe you could actually be so so happy and start crying.
In a way, I was happy I did that because it becomes more memorable when you let it go instead of holding it in and I know everybody is different and some people couldnt do it even if they wanted. Im an emotional guy and I dont mind sharing it.
It is not always easy to bring passion to the court, sometimes you feel tired, or you traveled a lot, it is a lot to ask sometimes. It is always important to act properly and with good manners because a lot of children look upon us, athletes and other famous people, and parents come up to me a lot, saying they are happy to have some other famous person or me as a role model for their kids.
I understand it comes as a burden for some athletes to always control themselves. The good thing for me is that it came naturally, I dont have to change at the end of the day, remembering the sport will always be bigger than me but also that Im probably someones favorite and for those people it is important to have a good look.
I call the Australian Open a happy Slam and the only hard part here is that there are just like 300 players, 300 coaches, guests, so many people at the site, we are happy to see each other but at every corner you see someone that you have to shake hands with or say hello.
On the other hand, at Hopman Cup the atmosphere is super intimate, with just 25 or 30 players, really nice and quiet while here at the Australian Open is a different animal, it could get tiring sometimes.
