Flashback: 25-year-old Federer talked about playing at 35

Q. Do you think Agassi is the last guy who is going to seriously compete for Grand Slam titles at 35, 36 years old?
ROGER FEDERER: No, I don’t think so. I think there will be down the road other guys playing at that age, too.

Q. Could you see yourself still having the physical and mental desire to keep pushing on at that stage?
ROGER FEDERER: Don’t know. I mean, I’ve set my goals sort of to 2012 Olympics sort of here in Wimbledon. But then I’m 31. After that, you have to see how you feel. I mean, it’s a long, hard road too then. It totally depends how you play an entire career. Sometimes motivation comes back, maybe eventually it totally goes away. At the moment I’m very motivated. I could see myself only playing 10 tournaments a year maybe for a couple of years maybe at the end of my career. You know, it depends if you have family, where you live, where you want to play, all this stuff. We’ll see.

Q. What is the most difficult aspect of winning a Grand Slam for you?
ROGER FEDERER: Just the mental strength. You play, you talk a lot to the press, you have a day off to think about what happened, what’s coming up. Having to get ready again, you know, having to play well again five sets, two weeks. The whole thing just makes it hard.
The pressure builds constantly from match to match. You always play a different style of players. With the weather, you never know either, especially here. It’s underestimated what goes around the player through two weeks. Can’t be injured, can’t be sick, can’t be this. I mean, it’s tough. It’s not only about how you play; it’s about how you go at it also. (Note: This interview was done at a 2006 Wimbledon press conference and was preserved at the ASAP Sports web site/ Fed Art by Karl Rosenstock)

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