Federer watches the markets as well as the ball

SPO7Sports/Sports/BusinessFederer watches the markets as well as the ballMadrid, Oct 18 DPA Roger Federer is keeping his eye on more than the ball in these troubled financial times, admitting that the current world economic swoon has his constant interest. The richest player ever to strike a tennis ball has also joked at the Madrid Masters that he has a "big mattress" in case of a world banking meltdown. "It's not been whole lot of fun for anyone," said the multi-millionaire with an all-time record of $43.29 million in prize money who relies on conservative money management. "I've followed closely to know what's going on. It seems like the markets may come back a bit now, but I think it will take a while for things to calm down." Federer this week topped the historic list, nudging Pete Sampras into second on the money tree. The Swiss says that he's not prepared to play fast and loose with his investment like he does on court. "I'm not a big risk-taker off the court, I worked so hard and travel so much that I don't want to lose money over problems that I cannot control." Federer called the current upheaval "a challenging time for everyone". And he joked: "Anyway, I have a big mattress." --DPAabr/jg233 Words18101228