Q. How much will the Wimbledon and Olympic finals matter coming into this game?
ROGER FEDERER: I think those two, but the World Tour Finals and Shanghai, so those last four matches, that's what I'll probably be looking at with my coaches and sort of go from there.
Obviously then the two Wimbledon matches are different. It's grass and you play different.
But, yeah, then the Olympics was playing much faster. So was Shanghai. This is a bit different here, but obviously I've played Andy now sometimes in the last sort of six months or a year since he's, you know, won the gold, won the US Open.
So I know what to expect; whereas it would be different if I hadn't played him. Because he has changed his game around a bit. He's playing more defensive. I'm looking forward to it. Obviously a great player, and I was very happy for him when he won his first Grand Slam and the gold.
So I'm expecting a tough match, of course.
Q. You had a lot of rivalries with a lot of players. What makes the matchup with Murray stand out for you?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I've always enjoyed playing against him. I had some tougher runs against him in a short period of time. I played him in a few weeks or maybe a month or two I played him three, four times, was on some sort of losing streak, so that was sort of hard.
But I always enjoyed the matchups with him because it gets to be very tactical. Wasn't a straightforward match. He would make you doubt and play very different to the rest of the guys. I kind of always enjoyed that, you know, when it's just not every point's the same. We used to mix it up against each other.
Now it's changed a bit because he's playing more offensive. The rallies aren't as long and grueling as they used to be. We both can do that.
There were times when we also played against each other in semifinals when Rafa and myself were 1 and 2. Same as Novak. We played a lot in the semis.
My rivalry goes more into the semifinals always with Andy than more in the finals, even tough now at Wimbledon and the Olympics we played in the finals. I think it was nice for us for a change to play in finals against each other.
Q. I know you would like to win in three sets, but you expressed this sort of gratitude, if that's not too strong a word, for being part of a match like this. Is that the sense you have?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, look, absolutely. All the straight set matches eventually become a bit of a blur, no doubt about it; whereas the five setters stand out more. I've had some great ones over the years here at the Australian Open. I love watching night session tennis. Whenever it goes deep into a match, I want to not miss it.
I'm sure there's other tennis fans out there who like to see me and Jo Willie battle it out. So I always feel it's a privilege to be playing so late at night, on a center court, the crowd getting into it.
We were really playing good tennis, so it was even more enjoyable in the process.
Q. You never lost to Andy in a Grand Slam match.
ROGER FEDERER: Now that you say it, I look back and, yeah, it's true. But I don't go into it with a mindset that I've never lost to him in slams. He's beaten me so many times. He's beaten me more times than I've beaten him.
But I'm happy you've given me the positive news (laughter). Good vibe. I'll try to remember that when I walk out, but it doesn't play a huge role for me.
Q. He made you cry at the last two Grand Slams.
ROGER FEDERER: Okay, so we haven't played so much the last few years now, but he's obviously a different player today.
I like the matches with him. I think a lot of them are very close. I very often have come up with some great playing against him in the slams when it mattered. But we'll see if I can produce it again.
Q. You say Murray has a more offensive style now. Does that, in fact, play to your advantage in a way, because in the past when he was more of a defensive counterattacking player, he was often very effective against you.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, he was, exactly. It's a fine line of being overly offensive or overly passive. It's hard to explain, but it's in the details, I guess.
I think the same goes for Tomic really. For instance, you want to be able to know that you can play offensive when it sort of presents itself. I think he's proven his point, that he can do it time and time again.
That's what matters I think the most for him now. In the moment itself, how offensive can you play when the ball is coming flat and hard into the middle, whatever. You have to know also when to back off.
He's very clever at all these things. He knows how it works. But I think it's especially on the return that you see the biggest significant change in his game overall if you look back now.
Q. You said you haven't played a match like today's for some while. Is it an advantage that Andy Murray hasn't gone beyond three sets yet in this tournament?
ROGER FEDERER: No, not really. I would probably rather be in his shoes. Has he lost a set? I don't think he has. That's exactly how you want to approach a semifinal match, in my opinion.
But there's also some positives to take out of a five set match. I did play very well today, but I had moments as well where I could've done a bit better.
I toughed it out. That also gives you confidence when you have to go through those matches. The physical stamina was there, the focus with there till the very end. So it does give you a lot of confidence moving forward from here.
I didn't play any leading up tournaments, so that's exactly maybe what I needed for the semis. Then again, I may be totally wrong. Time will tell.
Q. We're talking about advantages. Do you think it's an advantage to have played four in a row at night, whereas Murray has played none?
ROGER FEDERER: No. Because really we had a day off in between. Doesn't play that different after all. It wasn't scorching heat and stuff. If every day would have been 35 degrees it would have been a different story, but it wasn't.
I think we know the reasons why that happens, because of my draw more than not. It's hard to juggle all these things. I don't think it's an advantage, to be quite honestly. I don't think it's a big deal
