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Konnichiwa

Last night we went to dinner at a nice French restaurant in the hotel, but I only had a little white wine, no Sake. Mirka and I had the tasting menu which was excellent, it was good to change the food up a little bit, but I am definitely going Japanese again tonight.

As many of you know, in Japan they call their currency YEN. Maybe I was a bit tired last night but when the waiter brought the check after dinner and it said 17,000 I freaked for a second. I thought how was it possible that my dinner cost $17,000....did I order the most expensive glass of wine in the world? Did I eat some rare delicacy in the tasting menu? Then I realized the price was in Yen and I relaxed.

I had to get up early again this morning as I was scheduled third match from 9am. Many of you might know that I am not an early riser. If I had my way, I could definitely sleep all day.

Because of the rain yesterday the tournament had to move some matches to this morning, which meant that play started at 9am. Last night the last match finished at 3.24am, which is an all-time record for lateness for a singles match, and to be honest I was very happy to be into my third hour of sleep at that point.

We left the hotel and drove over to the tennis centre in pouring rain and strong winds because we have this typhoon hanging over Tokyo at the moment. So there was obviously no chance to play outside, which meant that there was no chance to warm up on the outside courts, this makes it a bit tricky to prepare for a match. That's why we had a longer warm up before the game today, normally we get five minutes to warm-up, but today we had 10 minutes which we both agreed on before the match started.

The match itself was played at a very high-standard, the serving from both sides I thought was amazing. I think I got a little bit lucky in the second set to get the break to take it 7-5 and then take it to the third. Having to play a tie-break in the final set was an obvious result because of our great serving [and poor returning ;)].

Every day it seems to get more special playing inside the Ariake Colosseum. It was more obvious playing today against a Japanese player but the fans remained very fair, which I always think is great and I am looking forward to tomorrow's match after today's hard fought battle.

Thanks to everyone for being worried about my leg. It's still swollen and there is a little cut, but you know tough guys don't cry. Yesterday I told you I thought I had the dream because of the Sake bomber, but I seriously doubt it was the Sake bomber, I am pretty sure now after reconsidering that it was because of Mirka keeping me on my toes trying to seek her revenge on Captain Wasabi. I have heard rumblings of many players (and fans) giving Mirka ideas of how to pay me back. I realize that no matter what happens in the remaining matches, I will be leaving Japan soon, so Captain Wasabi has put his defences on high alert and I will now pay more attention to what I eat. One of the fans tipped me off that perhaps she was going to try and mix a lot of wasabi into a scoop of green tea ice cream...I will now make her taste it first if we order it for dessert.

Apparently there was a famous Japanese samurai called Benke who killed a lot of warriors during his battles. They say that his downfall was a weakness in his shin. Hopefully, my shin will continue to get better and not pose a problem for the remainder of the event. Since I have been in Tokyo, I have been looking to buy a rare Samurai sword to take home with me as I really think they are cool and I have always been intrigued by the Samurais. But I don't think that they will let me carry it on to the plane. Actually I am not even sure they will let me through customs with it so I will probably wait until another trip.

Today I scared Sanji Arisawa, the tournament director, for the second time. Not only did I win 7-6 in the third in almost losing to Suzuki, after my match while I was getting stretched in the training room, Sanji came in and just as he walked in, I yelled out "ouch my back" and he said "good try you cant scare me twice in one day".

As you probably noticed, I am playing again with a collared-shirt, which I am happy about, as it's nice to change it up once in a while. I had been wearing t-shirts for some time but now but both Nike and I thought we should change it up a bit. I have had many fans write me about a t-shirt I wore during practice the other day. It was blue t-shirt Nike made for the US Open and they borrowed the theme of James Bond and instead of the "Man with the Golden Gun", they wrote that "Roger Federer is the Man with the Golden Racquet." You can see my shadow and the text in the shirt. Nike made it in different colours and I think it looks really great. I have always been a James Bond junkie....tell me how cool that guy is????

I am very psyched as next Friday I will be flying to Barcelona before the Madrid tournament to film a Nike commercial. Like a true James Bond mission, I can't tell you the theme of the commercial as it is top secret, but it will feature a few Nike athletes in a campaign that will be exclusive to the Asia-Pacific region, so all my fans in Japan and throughout Asia should get a chance to see it at the beginning of 2007.

Tomorrow I am playing my semi-final and I will write again after my match.

Sayonara

RF

Please check out my web site: rogerfederer.com

Konnichiwa

Last night we had the sponsor reception and welcome party at the official hotel here in Tokyo. Together with other players I went on stage to break a barrel of sake, which is supposed to bring good luck. I thought of giving it such a hard wack that I would destroy the barrel but at the very last moment I thought to myself 'Roger maybe you shouldn't be doing this' and I behaved appropriately by giving it the right force.

After the party I went for dinner with Tim Henman and Stefan Koubek who are two of my friends on the tour. We went to a teppanyaki restaurant where they cook in front of you. Tim had a funny idea and decided to exchange his chopsticks with the chef's utensils and took over from him. Actually he was pretty good, I mean he's a father after all, but I got too worried about my beef and I requested a change of chef. The dinner was delicious.

I got back to the room, went to sleep and already got into match rhythm. I woke up, went for breakfast with Mirka and Tony, got my stuff ready, just making sure that I have enough shirts, shoes, etc. This time I actually had a problem with my rackets. Last night I was rushing so bad to get to the player welcome party after my practice that I forgot to get my rackets strung for today's match. But the tournament helped out to get the rackets from the hotel to the tennis courts before me so they could be ready. I was glad that everything worked out in the end.

I got the stadium and when I walked out on Centre Court for my first match I felt the place buzzing. There were a lot of fans out there today and that made me feel really happy and excited to play. It went very well for a first match as I didn't know my opponent at all before going on court and that always makes it pretty difficult. As you know I won in two tough tiebreak sets. After the match I had to do press, doping test, stretch and massage, the usual looooong routine.

After the match I always like to get in touch with friends and family but here in Japan my 'stone age' mobile phone doesn't work. They are so advanced here with the modern technologies that I really need to try and get the latest stuff from here before I go back.

I will be funnier again tomorrow as I am quite tired from the match and Dmitry is looking over my shoulder and making me very nervous...

Sayonara

Rog

Konnichiwa,

I am a bit late with my second blog. I still felt a little bit jet-lagged last night and this morning I slept until 11:30...I feel much better now.

Like probably everyone else, the first place where I go after getting up is the bathroom. This is quite an experience here in Japan as they have the best toilets in the world. You could sit on the toilet for hours! The seat is warm, there is a water spray...Toto, the makers of this special toilet seat, are geniuses. The toilet in my bathroom is like a space shuttle, there are so many buttons that I am always afraid to press the wrong one. I definitely want to buy one for my apartment!

Last night for dinner I had sushi in Ginza, one of the nicest neighbourhood in Tokyo. My favourite sushi is tuna but I cannot eat squid. They served me squid last night and that made me feel like wanting to become a vegetarian again! People maybe don't know but I wasn't eating either meat or fish until 10 years ago but now I eat everything. Mirka did not come to dinner last night so I brought her back some take away sushi. She was afraid to eat it as she thought 'Captain Wasabi' would hit again but I never play the same joke twice. And she hasn't had her revenge yet, so I need to watch out...

Before dinner I had a reception in town as I was presented with the Baccarat Athlete of the Year award for 2006. The other two winners were Annabelle Bond, mountain climber, and the Japanese sports heroine Shizuka Arakawa who won a gold medal in figure skating at the Turin Winter Olympics this year. Annabelle climbed seven peaks including Mount Everest last year. Shizuka accomplished something that I have not done YET, an Olympic gold medal. That is my goal for Beijing 2008 ...or London 2012!

I did quite a few interviews at the Baccarat event. What strikes me here is that the Japanese media are always so well prepared for the interviews. They must have read everything about me and they ask interesting and funny questions. I also did a photo shoot for the cover of the AERA magazine, which is like the Time or Newsweek in Japan. I like doing photo shoots, sometimes they are long, but I love interacting with the photo artists and see their preparation work.

I also went to a mall yesterday and stopped by one of the largest gaming rooms, they have thousands here in Tokyo and it was funny to see my Sega tennis game there. I was thinking of playing against the volley master (a.k.a. Tim Henman) for a second but then I had to go to the hotel for a work out session.

My driver here in Tokyo, Mr Iwaono, always wears a Swiss Tennis pin and I thought he did it for me but he actually was the driver of the Swiss Fed Cup team that played against Japan here at the Ariake Colosseum in April. He's a very nice man who speaks fluent English. He has been the source of the best information on Tokyo.

Today I practiced from five to six before the Official Welcome Party of the AIG Japan Open. They put me to practice on court five away from the crowd but since there were so many fans there I moved to court seven so that they could be closer to me. At the end of the practice I invited one of the young kids in the crowd to join me on court for a short hit. The kid is only seven and turned out to be very talented. We played a few points from the baseline and then on the last point he hit a winning drop volley! His name is Kaito and maybe my agent Tony already has a contract ready for him to sign. You know what these agents from IMG are like...

I'm off to dinner with Tim Henman and Stefan Koubek at the teppanyaki. Tim is paying tonight so I will make a double order of Kobe beef!!!

It is back to business for me tomorrow. I am playing the fourth match at the Ariake Colosseum. I will blog again after that.

Sayonara

R

Please check out my web site: rogerfederer.com

Konnichiwa,


It's very exciting to be here in Tokyo and I'm also very pleased to be writing the ATPtennis.com blog this week. I've read a few blogs during the year. I really enjoy them as they shed some light on what goes on behind the scenes on the ATP circuit and it's a great way to communicate with the fans.

I've had an unbelievable time since arriving in Japan on Friday. I had one of my first practices on one of the outside courts of the Ariake Tennis Forest Park and many, many fans watched me. That was very special for me. They all had their cameras and their phones up in the air taking photos. It was like a sight I'd never seen before. People were running behind me on the way to practice, wanting photos, autographs, my rackets and even my clothes. I thought for a second that maybe I should practice naked. It was a great atmosphere and for the first time I felt what it must be like to be a rock star. I practiced with the No. 1 Japanese player Go Soeda, who is very nice and a very talented player.

Two months ago the tournament asked me if I would practice at 10AM on Centre Court on the first day of the tournament and I did not understand why but I decided it would be ok. Now I understand why. The tournament had promoted it as my first official practice in Japan and opened it to the public. It was great to see so many fans out there for an early morning practice.

On Saturday I had an incredible experience meeting with the Crown Prince of Japan, Prince Naruhito at one of the Imperial Palaces. I had been waiting for the moment for a long time and it was something that needed to be planned well in advance because of the protocol. We went to one of his guest palaces. He had two clay courts back there. I warmed up with him and I was surprised how well he played. Then I played with another junior as he took a rest and then I asked the Prince if he'd like to play some doubles. He was excited about that and we played a set together, which was a lot of fun and we won! I must admit that the Prince hit some fantastic winners and was a great partner.

Princess Masako and their beautiful daughter Aiko were also there and spent some time with my girlfriend Mirka and my agent Tony. After tennis we had a wonderful lunch and talked for over an hour at his tennis villa. Then we went for a walk around their picture-perfect gardens - in particular I remember they have a beautiful lake and trees - and had lunch at the court. It is one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen and to think that it is in the centre of Tokyo is quite amazing. It was a very enjoyable moment. You don't get to play tennis with royalty every day and I will never forget this experience.

It's very exciting to be here in Japan. It's been a while since I've been to a city or a country for the first time. I'm still feeling my way around, but the people are so polite and respectful here and I'm really happy I've made the trip. Mirka has played here five or six times so I knew what to expect but it's been more enjoyable than I thought. I love travelling in Asia. I have been to Bangkok, Shanghai, Dubai, Doha, and I always wanted to come to Japan. It's a very interesting country with fascinating history and culture. It's very different from home and I wanted to see it.


The traffic hasn't been as bad as I had expected and Tokyo is a very clean city where the pace of life is not as hectic as I imagined. I was expecting Tokyo to be like New York or Rome. This is such a big city with 8 1/2 million people in the centre and 12 1/2 million in total that you'd think there would be people everywhere, but it seems very relaxed.

I love Japanese food a lot and I eat it anywhere I go as it seems to be the 'in' food. It's healthy food with a lot of rice and vegetables. Over the last few years I started to eat fish and meat, so I can enjoy sushi and sashimi as well. Saturday night I had dinner with Mr Morita, the chairman of the Japanese Tennis Association. We had shabu-shabu - it's like a broth where you put the meat in and it's very much like the Swiss dish 'Fondue Chinoise'.

The other night I played a joke on Mirka and put a lot of wasabi (the very strong green paste) underneath a piece of her sashimi...she still has fire coming out of her nose and has promised to get me back!

For breakfast I was introduced to the Japanese custom of drinking vinegar, which is supposed to clean your system. I quite enjoyed that.

I'm off to do my pre-tournament press conference now.

Sayonara and write to you tomorrow!


le tableau ICI

L'Américain James Blake a remporté son 7e tournoi ATP à Bangkok en battant le Croate Ivan Ljubicic, en deux manches (6-3, 6-1). Sans discussion puisque la tête de série n°3 de l'épreuve n'a laissé filer que quatre petits jeux dans l'escarcelle du n°1



domage...:s