World number seven Roger Federer said that he still plays to win and this is evidenced by his commitment to give out his best in any match.
“I don’t mind how I play, as long as I win,” he said during an oncourt interview following his second round victory at the US Open 2013 Championships.
“One match against Rafa is not going to make my season or going to make me super confident or not,” he said, when asked about his impressive performance at the Cincinnati Masters quarterfinals, where he lost to a tight three set battle against rival Rafael Nadal. “It needs to be more than that.”
Federer has only claimed one title this season at the Gerry Weber Open, a feat that is below his standards where in some years he have amassed up to ten titles within a single season. The 17-time Grand Slam champion admitted that his performance at the Wimbledon Championships was a disappointment.
“It hasn’t been actually a terrible season up until Wimbledon really, and Wimbledon was just a disappointment,” he said. “I wish I could have played better, but I thought Stakhovsky overall played pretty well. Let’s be honest. Let’s give him some credit, too. After that, I just really hoped I could win Hamburg and Gstaad back to back to gain confidence. Never really happened.”
