Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Wimbledon is quite simply the ultimate championship, and I'd be the first to admit it was the one I wanted to win. A lot has to do with the history and the tradition: the grass courts, the royal box, the grand spectacle of it all.
I like to think I have a good few years left of my career yet, as long as I stay fit and healthy. However, it's always good to have a backup plan, which is why I have been working hard to build my business portfolio outside tennis.
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.
I enjoyed the position I was in as a tennis player. I was to blame when I lost. I was to blame when I won. And I really like that, because I played soccer a lot too, and I couldn't stand it when I had to blame it on the goalkeeper.
I love New York. It is an amazing city, and the U.S. Open is a lot about the show. There are tens of thousands of spectators; these are some of the best courts in the world, and there is nothing like being here and making memories.
I'd like to think I could have and should have won more, but that's not the point. And I was at the point where I was playing great tennis in the mid 80s - the type of tennis people hadn't seen before - and I was very proud of that.
That is what is most special about achieving equality - the positive signal that it will send the world over to the next generation of girls dreaming of winning Wimbledon or becoming a scientist or going to the moon as an astronaut.
Sports is about balls and about heart and you don't find too many champions in any sport in the world without heart or balls. He might have them, but against Nadal they shrink to a very small size and it's not once, it's every time.
I love jotting down ideas for my blog, so I doodle or take notes on all kinds of stuff that inspires me: the people I meet, boutiques I visit, a florist that just gave me a great idea for an interior-design project, things like that.
When I was 4 my mother got divorced and we were very close to each other. I always wanted to be with her. She took me everywhere. When she went for dinner with friends or when they had meetings at the tennis club, I was always there.
I do get pissed off when I'm at some gay event, and there's a 25-year-old, and he has no idea who I am. And I say, 'You need to know more about your gay history, boy.' I think the younger generation takes it a little bit for granted.
I was a really good ice hockey player when I was a kid. Now in the aftermath I think I wasn't maybe big enough, and I couldn't have put on enough muscle to actually be able to play with the better guys, but I was a really good skater.
The most important part of vegetarianism is the real shift in consciousness that takes place. There is a true correlation between our food choices and violence in the world. The only person who would disagree with that is a meat-eater
The Connecticut Open is one of my favorite events in the summer, so it feels great to have it confirmed on my calendar. I have a special relationship with the tournament and always feel such strong support when I'm on the court there.
For me, I'm in the driver's seat; I'm No. 1 in the world. I've won the last couple of meetings, and I've won the big tournaments lately. Whoever comes, I'll try to beat him. But it's almost up to me to decide who's my rival, isn't it?
It doesn't need to be the same every day, doesn't need to be the same shower I use, the same restaurant I go to, the same hour I go to sleep. I've always been very flexible. I don't care if I practice at nine in the morning or 10 P.M.
My dinner options are kept simple during Wimbledon. I have either salmon with rice, roast chicken with vegetables and potatoes, or steak with salad. My girlfriend Kim will cook, and I know each night that it will be one of those three.
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.
It's unfair to expect the USTA, just because they make this pot of money, to just snap their fingers and make champions. It's not simple, and anyone who thinks it is hasn't really looked underneath the hood to see how the engine works.
I know where I'm ranked, but I don't look at it that much, I don't study it that much. You really can't look at it that way, you've got to try to win as many matches as you can, and it's cliche, but you've got to take it one at a time.
They should be required to be in less events; there should be less events for the women. It seems it takes an actual meltdown on the court or women quitting the game altogether before they realize there's a need to change the schedule.
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.
In the real world there are many tones, from white at one extreme, through a large number of medium tones to black at the other extreme. To achieve a three-dimensional effect on paper you need just three - white, black and medium gray.
You'd be surprised at how many times I'd hit the ball, and the hair would go straight into my eyes. That's why, even when I play indoors, I wear a visor, because it stops that, and I'll apply a lot of gel and hairspray to keep it tight.
One thing we did well the whole tournament was keep fighting. And no matter what happened the point before, missed opportunity, missed easy shot, we just played the next point and blocked it out of our mind. That's why we're the champs.
I've never been one to be too careful with my diet. If I really start watching what I eat, I'm already a thin guy - I just won't have any physical strength. I think I'll disappear if I don't eat what I need to eat or what I like to eat.
I don't really think dreams have real meaning. Some people believe in that. I just think it's your brain, after a day of crazy random pieces of information jumbled together, creating interesting stories. I just view it as entertainment.
The important thing is to learn a lesson every time you lose. Life is a learning process and you have to try to learn what's best for you. Let me tell you, life is not fun when you're banging your head against a brick wall all the time.
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.
There is some moments on the career of everyone that are important ones. Is obvious that first title on clay makes a big difference. After that, I was confident enough to keep going, winning in Barcelona, in Rome, then in Roland Garros.
As long as I am winning, people shouldn't care whether my skirt is six inches long or six feet long. How I dress is a very personal thing. It is scary that every time I wear a T-shirt, it becomes a talking point for the next three days.
If you ask Jim Courier, I mean, that guy has his tongue up (Roger Federer's) ass, I think...you know, the whole time when you actually listen to him commentating or listen to him talk about Roger Federer. Sometimes makes me sick almost.
I know it's not the most important thing for me to win the most Grand Slams and be remembered in this world. I certainly don't have to win little tournaments here, there and everywhere, I don't have to win at all. Although I do want to.
I'm not a cooking person, so there's not much in the fridge. On the rare occasion that I do cook, I make myself breakfast. Eggs are my go-to in the morning for some protein. Orange juice as well. You have to start your day off with that.
Bjorn was a different breed, I threw my best material at him, but he would never smile, but that added to the charm when he played me and Mac. We were going nuts and losing our mind and he was sitting back like he was on a Sunday stroll.
That match was late evening and I had the experience of the electricity of the Centre Court because it was packed, a full house for the whole match. It had been a great year for me, first time there and I had the full taste of Wimbledon.
I started off in journalism 16 years ago in Stockholm, and I wrote for a few different publications for many years. I've also worked in advertising as a copywriter and creative director, but I changed it for architecture at 25 years old.
I don't know if Wimbledon's seen anything like it. I don't know if they will again. But it was just - it was electric. The Aussie crowd, I'm really proud of them, the way they conducted themselves. You know they're great losers, as well.
I have six racquets and usually two pairs of tennis shoes with me. Most of the time, the shoes can last two or three weeks if I'm playing all the week. I'm not the kind of player who slides a lot, so I just need one extra pair in my bag.
I'm a high-performance athlete: I'm running, I'm sprinting, I'm sliding, I'm doing pretty much everything and the last thing I want to worry about is my chest. I want to just worry about playing the sport at the highest level that I can.
If success is measured in maximising your potential and giving 100 per cent to what you do, enjoying it and making a good living then I'm very happy with what I've achieved. If other people wanted more than that from me, what could I do?
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 love the sport. I love competing. I love battling. I love being out there and, you know, playing in front of crowds. This is what I have been doing since I was a child, so, you know, there's nothing else that I want to do at this point.
By the time I got to the hospital, I certainly realised that I had a problem because I couldn't write or print at that time, which lasted luckily only about four months. I'd gone numb here and on my tongue and the right foot a little bit.
One of my big, big strengths I think early on in my career was that I could learn very quickly. You wouldn't have to tell me the things 10 times or 50 times until I would understand them. You would only have to tell me two or three times.
When I won in 2003, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would win Wimbledon and have my kids seeing me lift the trophy, so this is pretty surreal. And yeah, I was almost shocked in the moment that it all came together so nicely.
I'm an athlete and I'm black, and a lot of black athletes go broke. I do not want to become a statistic, so maybe I overcompensate. But I'm paranoid. Oprah told me a long time ago, 'You sign every check. Never let anyone sign any checks.'
There's only really one way to be at the top, and that's practicing - practicing well and practicing hard. And enjoying what you do, because if you don't enjoy it then, it's always tough to wake up and go practice and suffer on the court.
When I was younger, I was a little bit fat. I wasn't, like, big-time fat; I was just overweight - maybe around when I was 13 or 14. At that time, I wasn't practicing that much; tennis was just a hobby. But it wasn't easy to feel that way.
I know it's not the most important thing for me to win the most grand slams and be remembered in this world. I certainly don't have to win satellite tournaments here there and everywhere, I don't have to win at all. Although I do want to.