The Last Time... with Roger Federer ?

Is life really that different for five-time reigning Wimbledon champion Roger Federer? He sends text messages to his friends (granted, that includes Tiger), has to skip dinner (admittedly with Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller) due to work commitments and sometimes he can't get court time when he wants it.

DEUCE Magazine questioned the ATP World No. 1 during the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati about being Roger Federer. So, when was the last time...

I hired a tennis court?
Probably in Switzerland somewhere. I always call and say 'is it okay if I play' and sometimes it happens they say 'the court is taken at this time.' So I had to come at a different time. But I don't have to pay there anymore. Generally we struggle in Switzerland to get free practice courts but they gave me a special arrangement.

I played a match that no-one watched?
For a tournament match you'd probably have to go back to the juniors. It was only a practice set, but when I played Pete Sampras [at his house, before the Pacific Life Open in March] there were probably only three people watching.

I had to show my credential badge at a tournament?
It happens all the time because they want to scan your badge. They go after plastic, not faces.

I had a really unusual fan request?
I had a guy write to me asking for $10 million. He had some sort of story but it didn't make a lot of sense.

I changed the home page on my computer?
When we launched rogerfederer.com - of course!

I went somewhere and wasn't recognized?
I'm not sure about that one. It's been a while.

I played a competitive sport other than tennis?
Honestly, I'm very careful these days to avoid injury. I stopped playing soccer matches. I don't ski anymore. I try to save my energy.

I broke a string?
During practice in Dubai. In a match? It hasn't happened very often. I think it may have happened once last year when I hit the knot, but I can't remember at which tournament.

I visited a country for the first time?
India last year in December for UNICEF.

I played a practical joke in the locker room?
Basically everyday with everybody. In Cincinnati we had a fight in the locker room with Dmitry Tursunov. There were probably six people involved, including three or four players, throwing about 50 balls at each other for 15 minutes. I won! [Editor's note: Towards the end of the fight, the Penn ball mascot chose the wrong time to return to the locker room and was mercilessly pummeled.]

I asked someone for their autograph?
Probably Tiger for a friend of mine and Thierry Henry for a friend. That was this year.

I exchanged a text message with Tiger?
After he won the PGA Championships. I had style. I just wrote 'congratulations' and a little bit more. But it didn't have anything to do with 11 to 13 or anything.

I missed meeting a celebrity I wanted to meet?
Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller during Wimbledon. [Vogue editor-in-chief] Anna Wintour invited us over. But I said "Can't do it. Gotta stay in Wimbledon and stay serious." So I didn't go.

I flew economy?
[Long pause] Yeah, it's been a few years now.

Serbia's Djokovic dumps Australia out of top Davis Cup group

Novak Djokovic beat Chris Guccione in straight sets here on Sunday to give Serbia a 3-1 lead and dump Australia into Davis Cup wilderness for only the second time in their proud history.

Spurred on by a rowdy home crowd of 20,000 in the massive Beogradska Arena, US Open finalist and world No. 3 Djokovic overcame the stubborn Guccione 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5) in two hours and 59 minutes.

The world No. 94 put up a fight in the second and third sets but failed to rescue Australia after being called up in place of their best player, former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, who was bed-ridden with a bout of gastroenteritis.

The lanky left-hander eventually caved in to Djokovic, whose third victory in the best-of-five match tie banished Australia from the elite stages of the prestigious competition.

The win before the third-largest crowd in the Davis Cup's 108-year history also promotes Serbia to the competition's World Group for the first time since 1991, when Australia trashed then Yugoslavia 5-0.

In a re-match of January's ATP final in Adelaide, won by Djokovic, the 22-year-old Aussie made a nervy start, immediately losing his opening service game.

But after breaking back for 3-3, Guccione was broken again in the eighth game when a fired-up Djokovic raised his game with a flurry of powerful groundstrokes and soft touches.

The 20-year-old Serb sensation served out the following game to seal the first set in 40 minutes, causing the partisan home supporters to erupt into rapturous applause.

Guccione, who had only won one of his four previous Davis Cup encounters on clay, immediately lost his serve again in the opening game of the second set as Djokovic continued to dictate play.

He fought again back, however, and the pair traded service games until they reached a tie-break, where Djokovic unleashed an ace and fierce forehand pass before sealing it 7-3 in a set that took 70 minutes.

In the third set, Guccione fended off the first match point by rifling down two aces in the 10th game, before they went into another tie-break.

Djokovic fought back from 5-2 points down to seal the match and promotion 7-5 in the tie-breaker, before he was carried around the court on the shoulders of his teammates to chants of "Nole, Nole, Nole."

On the tie's opening day, Djokovic had breezed past Peter Luczak in straight sets before Hewitt staged a typical fightback to beat Janko Tipsarevic in a five-set thriller.

Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic had themselves fought back from a set down in Saturday's doubles rubber against Hewitt and Paul Hanley before they sealed a 2-1 advantage going in to Sunday's reverse singles.

In Sunday's dead rubber, world No. 53 Tipsarevic is scheduled to face Luczak, the 91st-ranked Australian.

Djokovic inspires Serbs to lead over Aussies

Serbia took a 2-1 lead in a crucial Davis Cup World Group playoff against Australia here on Saturday when Novak Djokovic inspired his partner to victory in a pulsating doubles clash.

Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic overcame a shaky start before a noisy 20,000 home fans in Beogradska Arena to defeat Lleyton Hewitt and Paul Hanley 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours and 52 minutes.

The Serbs are now hot favourites to go through to the elite stages of the cup for the first time since the collapse of Yugoslavia, and at the same time dump Australia into relegation for only the second time in their history.

US lead:
In Gothenburg, Sweden, the Bryan twins gave the United States a 2-1 lead when they beat Swedish doubles specialists Simon Aspelin and Jonas Bjorkman 7-6 (13/11), 6-2, 6-3 in their Davis Cup semi-final here on Saturday.

Mike and Bob Bryan extended their impressive Davis Cup doubles win-loss record to 12-1 to give the USA the upper hand in its bid to reach the Davis Cup final in December against either Russia or Germany.

Russian battle:
In Paris, defending champions Russia are battling for their Davis Cup survival as they trail Germany 2-1 going into Sunday's final day of their World Group semi-final in Moscow.

In Gothenburg, the United States moved closer to the final as the Bryan twins gave them a 2-1 lead over Sweden in the doubles.

Favourites Russia were reeling when their veteran doubles pairing of Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny fell 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5) to Germany's scratch combination of Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Waske. And to add insult to injury Waske was nursing an elbow injury.