The glory is being happy. The glory is not winning here or winning there. The glory is enjoying practicing, enjoy every day, enjoying to work hard, trying to be a better player than before.
The only way of finding a solution is to fight back, to move, to run, and to control that pressure.
If somebody says I am better than Roger, I think this person doesn’t know anything about tennis.
My goal is to improve my game, stay healthy and be competitive. If I have that, I know I can be able to win tournaments, which in the end is what it counts.
I appreciate a lot in this life; the things you cannot buy. Life is only once. I am happy being here and all the things that are a risk I normally avoid.
You have to accept both losing and winning well. I’ve stayed calm when I’m winning and I’ve stayed calm when I’ve lost.
Even if I have already peaked, I have to believe I can improve. I wake up every morning, and go to practice, with the illusion that I’m going to get better that day.
I am afraid of a lot of things. A dog. I could be afraid of a dog that’s upset, for example. And on the tennis courts, maybe on the outside I look fearless, but on the inside, I’m scared. There’s not one player in the world who isn’t nervous before matches. Especially important matches.
I learned throughout my career to enjoy suffering.
I always had the theory that the most important thing is be happy, enjoy what are you doing, and be fresh mentally.
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.