I always wanted to be honest with myself and to those who have had faith in me.
In your career you have a lot of good moments and bad ones. The important thing is to have enough motivation to keep working all the days with humility and trying to be a better player than before. I am going to try to continue doing this.
I play each point like my life depends on it.
Playing well or playing bad, I have to play aggressive. I must play aggressive.
I always work with a goal – and the goal is to improve as a player and a person. That, finally, is the most important thing of all.
I would love to learn other languages, maybe French? My uncle speaks German so maybe also German? Chinese seems to be too difficult.
Stay healthy, do sports and above all have fun while doing sport. Competing or just for fun, whatever, simply enjoy and try your best. Working hard, working well with achievable goals normally pays off. Believe in the people that are with you and listen to those who have more experience.
I am happy with being a tennis player and the choice I took when I was 12. But clearly, if I wouldnt have been a tennis player, I would have loved to be a soccer player. But again, I am happy with the choice I made.
As a tennis player you can win and you can lose, and you have to be ready for both. I practised self-control as a kid. But as you get older they both – winning and losing – get easier.
I have no sense of humor about losing.
I only ever run when there’s some point to it – say, if it’s in a game of tennis.
When one gets beaten by somebody better, one has to know how to lose with humility. Sure, I could have served better. Sure, I could have hit my forehand harder. But the truth was this was like an avalanche, and there was no way to stop it.
For me, it is important to win titles and for that I need to work hard, stay healthy and be able to compete. The rest, I always say, it comes.
I love the beach. I love the sea. All my life I live within – in front of the sea.
Tennis is a hard sport. There is a lot of competition all year and you play alone.
Hard courts are very negative for the body. I know the sport is a business and creating these courts is easier than clay or grass, but I am 100 per cent sure it is wrong.
Some people get very confused about my game. They think it’s better if the court is slow, because I have a good defence. But the faster it is, the better for me. My spin is more painful for my opponents, my aggressive game works better.
He’s a fantastic player and he’s going to be around so much longer so I’m happy with every one I get before he takes them all.
My motivation and aspiration is the same, being number one or being number five. So that’s the truth. And my goal is the same – it’s to always be happy playing, it’s to enjoy the game and improve always.
My serve can get better, for sure. It’s not just about serving bombs, but positioning, variation in speed, in spin.