I was very lucky to play against him at Wimbledon 2001. I remember that match like it was yesterday. It was a fundamental match. It was my first time on the Wimbledon Center. When I started getting into all of his records, he was always very kind and supportive to me.

This gave me the motivation to fight even harder. What if I could play a game again instead? I would replay the one with Sampras at Wimbledon to try to win again. Feeling that nervousness and disbelief on match point again. Then I would replay the 2008 Wimbledon final against Nadal, trying to change the final result.

I would try to win a few more points at the end,” explained Roger.

When Roger Federer met Angelina Jolie on a plane
Then the Swiss opened up also on very personal issue: “If I got stuck in the elevator, who would I want to stay with? Marat Safin.

We could talk about a lot of things. Or Andy Roddick. The three of us I think would have some great conversations. My favorite movie is Gladiator. It’s really beautiful. Sometimes I also watch Avatar or Titanic but they are not, let’s say, my genre.

Have I ever been fascinated by any famous person? I don’t know this, but I can tell you something about Angelina Jolie who was on the same flight as me. In my mind I kept telling myself not to look at her, not to talk to her because I didn’t want to bother her.

Then my wife and she started talking to each other and so I had to say: Hello. We started talking and she was very nice. I was a little uncomfortable because I didn’t want to disturb her, because a lot of people had already done it.”