I want to be a role model, not controversial: Federer

TOP GUN: Roger Federer has won 53 singles title including 12 Grand Slam titles.

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Roger Federer may have lost out on the Australian Open title this year but the world No. 1 is confident of retaining his position at the top and is looking forward to do well this season. In a special interview to CNN, Federer speaks about his life as the world No. 1 and much more.

"Well losing any time in a tournament is not fun even if it’s the first round or the final. Final is sometimes more tough because you have to go through the ceremony and you see the other guy holding the trophy. The shock for me came the moment when I made that forehand error said ‘wait a minute. I won’t get another chance to hit the ball now’. It is all over and I have to just shake hands and go to the locker room, pack my bags and leave the place," Roger Federer said.

CNN: Roger you have so much success. Surely you must pay attention to the record books. How important is it for you to look back at the history books and say that I can beat that guy, I can do better than that.

Roger Federer: Well, now more and more so. I don't like to speak about the records too much until about a year ago when I started to really get close to (Pete) Sampras' record of 14 major and now I feel much more comfortable with it because I am 26 and sort of many more years to go and I am comfortable in my skin. I know how to handle it and I love being the No. 1 in the world. Having the pressure sort of every body expecting me to win. I think I handle it well and that’s why I put myself under extra pressure.

CNN: One record I am sure that you would like to get is to win all four Grand Slams. The last man to do it was Andre Agassi. How are you looking heading to Paris?

Roger Federer: Yeah! I have got a lot of time which is always a good thing because I have four months between the Australian Open and the French Open which gives me really a lot of time to prepare physically, mentally specially on clay. Let's hope that Rafa (Rafael Nadal) is not going to play his best again. So it is going to be interesting to see how it is going to turn out to be.

CNN: How hard it is to keep your discipline because you really don't hear about Roger Federer stumbling out of a club at 7 am. You don't hear about Roger Federer crashing a luxury car, you don't hear about controversial events surrounding you. How tough is it to stay on the right path and resist the temptations you must have many times?

Roger Federer: Coming out of a night club late at night is not something which is the worst thing in the world. You should also have fun but it is something I don't do so much to be honest. I hardly ever go out. I am too tired at 2 in the morning, 3 in the morning. So I would rather have a relaxing night out with my friends and just talk and have nice dinner and stuff. But it’s something that I am not really mad about anyway. The controversial stuff I can leave that up to other people if they want to. I am not really that type of guy. I would rather be a role model for kids and myself. It's anyway the person I am and I am not going to go out there to be controversial to be just in the media. I think that’s the way to do it for me. Anyway people give me a lot of compliments but that not why I do it. I do it because it is me and it is genuine and so lets see how it goes in the future. Hopefully I stay out of trouble.