Tennis is a mental game. Everyone is fit, everyone hits great forehands and backhands.
You have to believe on the court. In the end, it's mental. In these moments against a great champion like Rafa, you have to believe. It's all about stepping in and taking your chances. I always believed, but it's a process of learning.
It is very important and my success very much depends on the harmony that I feel in my private life. It is essential for me to be happy in my private life. And if it continues, I am able to continue playing tennis.
My father had never watched tennis, never liked tennis too much. He said, 'OK, we buy a racket, we watch together,' because we didn't know anything. It was a process of learning together that made it more interesting.
I remember as a kid, I was improvising and making little trophies out of different materials and going in front of the mirror, lifting the trophies and saying 'Nole was the champion!'
I lost to a better player who played some courageous tennis and deserved to win.
The fact that nobody played tennis in my family and you'd say by chance they make three tennis courts in front of the restaurant that my family owned when I was 4, I think that's a destiny. That's kind of life circumstances that kind of come together for you to become who you want to become.
Nobody actually played tennis in my family.
I'm trying to enjoy my lie as much as I can and I know that tennis hopefully is going to be my life the next 10, 15 years.
I haven't been in tennis for that long, but what I can say is that we have a lot of young guys at the top who are willing to do a lot of good things for tennis in general.
I have always valued the care for my body, and my mind and had holistic approach to life. I always thought this is utmost importance for my tennis.
I always try to have something that keeps my mind relaxed, keeps my mind a little bit off tennis.
