Dubai: He may have ended on the losing side, but Indian wild card Somdev Devvarman was exulting in awe upon achieving a long-time dream of playing against his childhood idol.
"I felt great playing against him because obviously Roger is my idol, one of the greatest players ever," he said.
"But I think he serves really well and now after experiencing it, I think it's very underrated how good his serve is. I feel he puts a lot of pressure on you when you're serving," Devvarman told the media after going down in straight sets to the Swiss maestro.
"It's not like he has too many weaknesses to exploit, so when he feels like he's on a roll, it's really tough to stop him," added the Indian lad.
"Once he's ahead, it's so hard to play against him because he really has the freedom to play his shots and go after it. It's definitely not easy, but it was a good experience for me," he admitted.
Distractions
"There are a lot of distractions for a guy of his calibre. When he's out there on the court, he just puts everything aside, goes out there, plays his game and shows a lot of respect for the game, for the people around, for the opponent, for everyone. So it's really nice to see the greatest player of all time being like that. I think I can definitely take something away."
Among his more recent exploits, Devvarman won the singles gold medal at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China at the end of last year. And he was one of three who were given a wild card by tournament organisers Dubai Duty Free.
"Unfortunately I couldn't play Roger in later rounds, although I don't know if it would have really made a difference. Usually having a win under your belt feels a lot better than just going out," he said.
"I'm fortunate to have played him. I gave it my best effort. Unfortunately, I fell short today."
Meanwhile, the world No 2 had a few words of praise reserved for his first-round opponent.
"He's a good player. He's been in the finals of Johannesburg which I guess also flies quite a bit. I think it's a pretty quick court as well. And then from what I've heard, and as he showed that tonight, I think a faster court actually suits his game quite a bit," Federer said at the post-match conference.
"You know, it gives him a little bit more on his serve. He counter punches well, so if he goes through the ball it has more pace on it and so forth."
The top seed knew that he had to be wary of such an opponent, especially given his vulnerability in first-round meetings.
"I knew I had to be careful. He had one chance in the second set to go a break ahead. Those are the little opportunities, if he starts taking them, the match can take a different turn. But I was able to avoid it and in the end play a solid match," Federer noted.
