If you're ranked number one in the world it's because you've earned it, and I think the only way to really get there is to have that ability and to have it nurtured in a very competitive environment at an early age.
I suppose you could never say never, but my experience would tell me that the most successful players in the world are gonna come from an environment that is more competitive at an early age.
It's always been eclectic; you never know what you're going to get.
First of all, in any sport where you can measure distance, height speed and all of that, you see how athletes have changed their sport and made it better. I believe, with every generation, the sport has improved. Certainly, in the men's game, that has been the case. I think that I played Pete [Sampras] at his best, I played Roger [Federer] at his best.. I believe wholeheartedly that Roger and [Rafael] Nadal have pushed the game much further than myself or Pete ever did. Their options on the tennis court are considerably more than ours.
Now that I've won a slam, I know something very few people on earth are permitted to know. A win doesn't feel as good as a loss feels bad, and the good feeling doesn't last long as the bad. Not even close.
First of all, let me say, 1:15 in the morning, for 20,000 people to still be here, I wasn't the winner, tennis was. That's awesome. I don't know if I've ever felt so good here before.
When you deal with somebody in the heat of battle, you see the best or the worst of them. So when you get through all that there is a great deal of respect.
My feelings are Yevgeny Kafelnikov should take his prize money when he is done here and go and buy some perspective.
You know my dad pushed me to believe that I was going to be the best. I just never thought of life without tennis, even looking forward.
I'm going to go down swinging... I'm sure as heck not going to go home and say I had a bad tournament.
I've been criticized for not having perspective in the past and I thought that of myself many times but not there.
Sex doesn't interfere with your tennis; it's staying out all night trying to find it that affects your tennis.
Few of us are granted the grace to know ourselves, and until we do, maybe the best we can do is be consistent.
He thinks it's his day, and when you think it's your day, it usually is.
My accomplishments do not live up to my tennis game. Most people have to work really hard and win some big matches, and then they get money and popularity. For me it has been the reverse of everybody else. The exact opposite.
There's no such thing as an open draw. At least for me - I mean, obviously for Roger Federer, I think every draw feels open for him - but for me there's no such thing as an open draw
It means a lot to you, to be out there. The highs are pretty high, and the lows are pretty low. You know, it's easy to feel like you let the team down. I mean, at the end of the day we still got to figure out a way to get through the tie.
I'm going to wake up tomorrow and start with not caring how I feel. That's going to feel great.
Well, I actually tell my son that I don't have any hair because he asked me the same question that I gave it to him when he was born, so he actually still believes that. He's five years old.
Well, you know, I've bonded with a lot of people over the years, you know. We played the same tournaments year after year and we go back to the same place and many times the seats have been full and that has meant the world to me for sure.
