Roger Federer’s five-set win over Gilles Simon in the second round of the Australian Open 2011 was capped by the now-standard Jim Courier postgame interview, a discussion that really threw into sharp relief one of the more puzzling Federer paradoxes: For such a type-A guy who wears his initials on every single article of clothing and plays at his best like a precision killing machine, he’s actually a pretty chill bro.
Federer almost looks giddy after winning matches like these, and in between stray giggles is ever quick to credit his opponent. On his history with Simon:
Australian Open 2011: Roger Federer’s Sunny Post-Match Interview
Best of three sets, we go three; best of five, we go five ... hopefully we don’t play each other anymore.
On what might have been framed as an embarrassment of a second-round match had this interview not taken place:
It was great to play against him. I really enjoyed myself out here tonight, and you guys made it special.
And on his thoughts as he sat by the court waiting for the fifth set to begin:
Shouldn’t [Simon] be missing a bit more now?
The video cuts off before Courier gets a bit weird, arguing with Federer (politely, of course!) over the date of the last tournament in which he was eliminated in the second round (answer: Never in a Grand Slam event, but the last time he was knocked out before the quarters was at Roland Garros in 2004), but at least Federer for once escapes without being asked whether his young family is distracting him from the game. Plenty of time for that in the third round, right, pundits?
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