Melbourne: Roger
Federer admitted medical timeouts were "more mental than anything"
after he went off for treatment at a key moment in his Australian Open
semi-final with Stan Wawrinka on Thursday. Federer said the injury break, for
an upper-leg problem between the fourth and fifth sets, helped him clear his
head before returning for the final set against his fellow Swiss.
Federer,
who had lost the previous two sets, returned to win 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3 and
reach his sixth Australian Open final, setting up a shot at a record-extending
18th major trophy. "These injury timeouts, I think they're more mental
than anything else," the 35-year-old said, when asked if it gave him a
chance to clear his head.
"For
the first time maybe during a match you can actually talk to someone, even if
it's just a physio," Federer added. Medical timeouts have sometimes been
controversial. At the 2014 Australian Open, Victoria Azarenka drew suspicions
after going off at a critical point of her semi-final against Sloane Stephens.
Wawrinka
also went off for treatment after losing the first two sets, and he returned to
win the next two against Federer. "It maybe relaxed Stan just to be able
to talk about I don't know what. The same thing for me, as well," Federer
said. "You start chatting about it, how good or bad the leg is, how you
hope it's going to turn around. That can leave a positive effect on you when
you come back.
"I
only really did take the timeout because I thought, 'He took one already, maybe
I can take one for a change'. Because I'm not a believer in any way that we
should be allowed to take a lot of timeouts."But I took it after the set
break. People know I don't abuse the system. I hope it's going to stay that way
in the future for me, too."
Wawrinka
said he had no concerns about Federer's timeout, adding that he didn't think it
had any bearing on the outcome of the match. "Anyway it's a set break, so
it's a longer break. I took one when I need it. We both know each other. We're
not the players who take extra medical timeout," he said.
"If
we take it, it's because we need it. I took it when I needed it; he took it
when he need it... If you look at the end, the fifth set, I had some
opportunity at the beginning. I don't think it affected the score."
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