I believe that if you feel good and if you look good when you're playing, it can give you the extra edge that you might need.

To be able to represent Nike as a brand is one thing, but to also represent the great players that came before me means a lot.

As long as I don't overindulge, it's OK for me to eat burgers and ice cream occasionally. As for alcohol? I've never tried it.

I would love when that day comes so I can prove everyone wrong, but in the same time prove to myself I can be the best I can be.

Let's forget the cliche on girlfriends, from Serena to Sharapova. I say it's easy to get lost in beauty, but is it a mistake then?

I'm terrible at relaxing and holidays. For me, a day off is going to the gym. I could never just lie on the beach and read a book.

Tennis is a great platform for me to do well, and for sure, I want to be No 1, to win Slams, but there are more things that I want to do.

I think, losses, I think they teach you the most, but it's tough. I'm not gonna lie. It sucks. It's terrible. You can't sleep for two days.

I have always been the kind of guy to adjust to anything. I never cared where I was going to sleep or what court I was going to practise on.

I have always been an admirer of Feli, Feli Lopez. He's just - I mean, every time - he's, like, fit and good and his long hair and the beard.

I like to stay away from that red carpet world unless I absolutely have to do it. I'd rather put on my Tom Ford suit and take a few pictures at home.

I really believe that I can be the No 1, but for that to happen, I probably need to win a couple of grand slams, and they are not going to fall from the sky.

At some point in your life, you need to sit down and say, 'What do I want to do? How do I want to be remembered? What's my legacy? And what's important to me?'

Once the opportunities knock on your door, you've got to try and go get them. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. But at the same time, you've got to keep going.

I just want to live my life the best way I can and enjoy the moment that I have off the court because you need to find a good balance. I think this is very important.

I love tennis. But even if I become the greatest of all time, I still don't only want to be defined by tennis. I'm my own person. And I want to be remembered as I really am.

At some point, you have worked so hard in your life and your tennis that you don't want to be too much up and down. You want to do what you have done and eventually get better.

I'm a very creative person in general. I like to create stuff in my downtime off the court. If I were to tell you everything I do, you would be like, "Do you really play tennis?"

I can play on grass - when I won Junior Wimbledon, that was an unbelievable feeling, I could not believe that I had won the tournament, as Wimbledon is like the holy place of tennis.

For me, I like that, how do you say, bohemian sort of look. Baggy sweaters to really fitted pants - I love Rick Owens's stuff, for example. I am really into that kind of grungy style.

There is always a dream, for me, in the locker room before matches as well during the day. If you have a strong mind, a strong tendency to keep you strong, I think your dream is coming.

I don't need to put extra pressure on myself right now. The important thing is for me to stay healthy, in practice, and just keep on the hours. You just never know when it's going to happen for you.

You may not be playing your best tennis or having your best match; sometimes it's just not your day. The important thing is to believe in yourself, which starts with being confident in your abilities.

I love tennis. But even if I become the greatest of all time, I still don't only want to be defined by tennis. I'm my own person. And I want to be remembered as I really am. I'm so much more than tennis.

I think the first step is definitely Top 5. From there, you can sort of see the end, and that's the top. In order to do that, you need to win Slams and big tournaments. That's just proven. There is no other way.

In the beginning, I thought the Federer comparisons were cool, but after a while, I wasn't happy with it. It's not the best thing you can hear as you're trying to develop, as it puts extra pressure on a young kid.

We all know how to play tennis. We all know how to hit the ball. It's more just about those details - managing all those early rounds and just managing yourself to make sure you're ready for whatever is coming up next.

My dad taught me how to play tennis, and I owe that to him. But the better you get, the higher you climb, and the more lonely you get. I've had to sacrifice a lot of personal relationships, but that's the choice I made.

My father loved the single-handed backhand, so to him, that was the main goal; we were always fascinated by that shot. He taught me all the technique and how to structure my game. I was really privileged to have a father like that.

Tennis is such a fun game. One of the things that I really like is that everything depends on you. Before certain matches, you might have those butterflies, but that's the excitement. There's a ton of emotion that you're going through.

Sure, I can afford a nice car and a nice place, but this is not what brings me happiness. Now you're on a high, and people know you and things like that, but how many people will remember your name once it all stops and the money isn't raining from the sky?

Of course there is a lot of things you can work on and change and all that, but first I think you should look at yourself before you actually start trying to find excuse in the other people, whether it's going to be coach, physio, family, or whoever else is on your side.

I love the Olympics. I love the idea of something happening every four years. I've always had love for Bulgaria, and I've always been a Bulgarian. That's also really part of why I want to play it. I know it's tough for the calendar, but at the same time, it's the Olympics.

I never thought I was going to make a career out of tennis, to be honest, until I was 10 or 11 years old. One of my earliest memories is when I was seven, and I was competing against players that were three, four years older than me. I didn't take it too seriously at the time. I was having a lot of fun.

You're going to play a lot of tournaments during the year, a lot of traveling. If you have a good set of mind, you're committed to the work, you want to do that work, and you definitely got to do it. Doesn't matter if you have four, five, six losses in a row, that doesn't have to discourage you to stop all of a sudden.

I think when I was younger, I was struggling to kind of differentiating love from a personal love or a tennis love or whatever else. There was time that I wasn't sure how to deal with both things in the same time. But you learn. I guess we grow. I mean, I don't want to say I've learned from my mistakes, but I've learned myself a little bit better.

Share This Page