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Football will always be part of my life. I've taken an interest in it since I was a young boy; my father played, as did I, and I never miss the chance to organise a little match with my friends when my schedule permits it. I also follow the results of the major European leagues quite closely.
I think Roger Rasheed is helping me to be more serious. Also, he can convey his passion for tennis. He loves the game. Also he's enthusiastic about everything, about tactics, about what is happening on the court, and also physically he's really pushing me. He wants me to do my best every day.
That's why I enjoy Davis Cup, and I really enjoyed college tennis. It's very special. You want to go out there and compete your hardest, because you don't want to let anyone down. You want to absolutely give it your all for your team. And that's sort of the mentality I've taken to pro tennis.
I don't really know why I started playing as a kid, but I grew up in Queens, New York, not too far from Forest Hills, where they played the U.S. Open in those days. I even got to be a ball boy there. Also, there was a tennis court just a block away from our house, and I'd hang out down there.
I am taking a risk with my claycourt schedule. It is pretty heavy from now up until Roland Garros. I am scheduled to have one week off before Paris. Playing here is not as tiring as competing abroad. I wanted to see this tournament happen and now that we have the event, I want to see it grow.
For a few years after I stopped playing people would ask me how I was coping with retirement and there would often be a slightly worried tone to their voice. But I always answered the question the same way: that if I knew retirement was going to be this good I would have quit a long time ago.
It's amazing when tragedy strikes, how strong you find that you are, and I'd seen other people go through horrible things. And I just thought, "Wow, I would be a complete mess," and then suddenly when it happens, you realize you had more strength than you knew and it helps you to get through.
I've never cared that much for cementing my place in history. Sports is so transitory, so ephemeral. It just seems like so much nonsense comparing me to Helen Wills Moody or Suzanne Lenglen or anybody else from some other time. One lesson you learn from sports is that life goes on without you.
Sometimes, you know, once you pay your taxes and once you pay your expenses, once you've lived this life, things add up quickly. And it's easy to become a statistic. And that's something I've always tried to avoid, and I've always said, hey - not that it won't be me, that, hey, it could be me.
Life will throw everything but the kitchen sink in your path, and then it will throw the kitchen sink. It's your job to avoid the obstacles. If you let them stop you or distract you, you're not doing your job, and failing to do your job will cause regrets that paralyze you more than a bad back.
I was pretty young when I bought my first place, and at that time didn't really view it as an investment. After living there for a few years I decided to move out of London, so I decided to rent it out for a few years. Then, as the property market continued to rise, I made the decision to sell.
I'm 58 years old. I got married for the first time - it's about time, right? Growing up as a gay woman, you just don't ever think about that, and then I thought, about 10 years ago, 'You know, I think within 10 years gay marriage will be legal.' And here we are, 10 years later, making it legal.
By putting pressure on myself to develop a great game, I had less pressure to win. These days, I tell kids that the way I grew up, it wasn't about winning. It was about playing well, about playing the "right" way. That approach helped me enjoy the game and develop mine to its maximum potential.
During rallies, it's always crucial to make Nadal cover the whole width of the court. He likes to camp out in his backhand corner, spearing that big off-forehand diagonally across the court. So the backhand down the line is a vital shot, because it moves Nadal out of his most favoured position.
I first had money for investment just at the time of the 2008 crisis and shares have been highly volatile since then. So I do have shares in my pension but I have tended to invest in specific projects that include property and private companies that have been very well researched by my advisers.
In the complete overall history of tennis, I figure I'll be worth a sentence or two.... That's why my place in the all-time rankings means so very little to me, because I know I won't be anybody's number one, and it's that same old thing: if you're not number one, then what does it really matter?
I don't have anything to prove ever, ever in my life. If I have something to prove, what does that mean for everyone else? And I think everyone should have that attitude. You just have to prove to yourself that you can go out there and be the best that you can be and not prove anything to anyone.
If I'm not playing well, I do get down on myself because I am a perfectionist. [So I need] someone who believes in me more than I believe in me, someone willing to work as hard as I work. I don't understand what no means or what failure means; I only understand what yes means and try again means.
The enemy uses all his power to lead the Christian, and above all the minister, to neglect prayer. He knows that however admirable the sermon may be, however attractive the service, however faithful the pastoral visitation, none of these things can damage him or his kingdom if prayer is neglected.
It's not my goal, definitely. I mean, I don't think it's something I can really achieve. Definitely she's a great champion - she has nine titles. But it's nice to see her in the locker room, and she's smiling and she's happy for me. She's really cheering for me. It's nice to have someone like her.
It means everything, definitely. I mean, it's Wimbledon. Tennis here is tennis history. Centre Court is always great to play on. I really feel like I'm at home. I was really up and down after my title here in 2011, but I still worked hard and believed in myself, and my team believed in me as well.
I want to do the best I can right away. There's no point for me to just kind of be relaxed about it. Of course, in each match winning is out of my control, but I want to try to do the best I can as soon as I can, and I want to have 10 successful years and not five slow ones and then five good ones.
When I dive for a ball I'm not diving because it looks spectacular - I'm trying win the point. When I jump it's because it's easy for me to jump. I'm not being cocky but because I can jump higher than other people it looks more spectacular. Other players smash but I go higher so it looks different.
I felt a ton of pressure in '08. A lot of great things were expected of me right out of the gate, and I brought some of that on myself with those great early results. But I wasn't a good enough player to make a run every fourth or fifth tournament. I wasn't as good a player as my ranking indicated.
Right now my main aim is not to get injured any more. I am a little bit afraid of running and sliding because the ankle was so painful. But I am not a person who runs a lot, who spends a lot of energy on the court. If I am mentally OK, if nothing is bothering me and I want to play, then it is fine.
I talked with Tom Hanks. I saw that movie 'Turner and Hooch' at least 50 times. It took all my guts to go up to him. I went up to him, I was like, 'Can I have a picture?' We talked acting; he wanted to know what I was doing. We talked a little tennis. I mean, he knew all about myself and my sister.
For sure it's better to have a coach. I won't lie to you. It's better to have someone to help you. I need it, you know. But as I say all the time, it's not easy to feel someone. That person has to be - has to be, for me, like good, first of all, but has to be hard and also understand my personality.
You can tell when someone has been on steroids A guy bulks up, has a new body and never gets tired...You see these guys or girls who come onto the tour talking about their new training programs and their diets where they eat this or that new thingbut they'll never tell you about the drugs they took.
In terms of playing ability there is nothing to choose between number one and 100. Instead, it's a question of who believes and who wants it more? Which player is mentally stronger? Which player is going to fight the hardest in the big points? These are the things that determine who is the champion.
I knew I could play well on the grass, but I really played so well today. I knew exactly what I had to play to beat her. I just did everything I could in the moment. I was very focused for every point. I knew that I had to go forward for every shot I was playing to push her back, and yeah, I did it.
I don't take anything for granted. In the beginning, my parents put a lot of money on the table so I could live my dream, without putting any pressure on us. We made our own way. But I've seen so many players come and go that I never, not for one minute, thought I could rack up millions on the tour.
When you see players coming into the new season with injuries and already carrying strapping on various parts of their bodies in January, then it only serves to highlight how hard the sport is and how demanding the schedule can be. There really isn't an off-season and that's the nature of the beast.
With experience, you understand expectations, you understand consequences, but sometimes it gets a little bit hard, especially for me, that I'm a perfectionist - I want to analyse everything. And sometimes it's most important to just let go and trust your instincts. This is what I need to do more of.
It's something I've always wanted - to be known as an Australian. When I was younger I was always referred to as an Aboriginal tennis player. Now I think the award means that I have been recognised as an entertainer and that makes me happy... It's given me probably as big a kick as winning Wimbledon.
He does cry a lot. It's nothing new, nothing special! And actually I think everyone was crying in my box, so I think he wasn't the only one. I was crying, as well. But my dad is very emotional. I have that from him. It's my dad. He has a birthday tomorrow, so I'm just glad that he has a nice present.
Women's tennis has been around for a very long time - we're talking about the 1800s. But women's soccer hasn't had such a long history, so now they're right at the beginning of really trying to make things equal. We need to continue not only to advocate for women but to have men advocating for women.
The conditions change so much at the French Open, you know, you have to be prepared for something you really don't know what it is. You can practice in the morning and it's fine, and the weather is great then you come to play in the afternoon and it is drizzly and the conditions are totally different.
I think she definitely played a great tournament here. I mean, she reached the final as a very young girl. I know she can be very dangerous. I just did what my coach David told me, that I had to really go for every shot, to not really give her the time for her game. Definitely she's a talented player.
Time spent in prayer will yield more than that given to work. Prayer alone gives work its worth and its success. Prayer opens the way for God Himself to do His work in us and through us. Let our chief work as God's messengers be intercession; in it we secure the presence and power of God to go with us.
When I fight for a cause and I know it, I fight for it. I'm not scared to say something. I think some tennis player, maybe they're a bit scared, whatever is the reason. Definitely, some athletes, they fight for big cause. They speak it loud. I think it's great. It's great for sport. It's great for life.
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.
If you're losing, just be a man, be a man and lose as a man. Don't pretend that you are injured and then you start running around and start to hit winners, and then all of a sudden you pull the hands up in the air after winning the match. I mean, what kind of sportsman are you? What kind of man are you?
As an athlete, success is not just about winning; it is about working hard and giving it all you have. I have always taken one match at a time and worked hard; when I succeeded, I worked further on the aspects of the game which worked for me; when I failed, I listed out my weaknesses and worked on them.
When one player is better than you, at this moment, the only thing you can do is work, try to find solutions and try to wait a little bit for your time. I'm going to wait and I'm going to try a sixth time. And if the sixth doesn't happen, a seventh. It's going to be like this. That's the spirit of sport.
You know, growing up my - you know, I came from Compton, Calif., and, you know, it was a place where a lot of people did come out when a lot of people stayed. So I've been able to see the top and the bottom of life, and I think that balances you if you allow it to and if you remember where you came from.
We have a guy from Switzerland who is just playing the game in a way I haven't seen anyone - and I mean anyone - play before. How fortunate we are to be able to see that. If he stays healthy and motivated - and the wonderful feel he has stays with him - he is the kind of guy who can overtake the greatest.
The serve, I was too young and too small and... not enough powerful to have a good serve when I was young, so my forehand was always my signature shot. So I used to always run around my backhand, you know, use my forehand as much as I could, and so that's why I think it's my strength also today, you know.
I think my greatest victory was every time I walked out there, I gave it everything I had. I left everything out there. That's what I'm most proud of. I can't go win Wimbledon anymore, so if what I've done in the past is not good enough, let it go. Because I'm certainly not sitting around thinking about it.
To me, Dan Evans is an example of somebody that puts the clock back a little bit and tells everybody: 'Listen, tennis is not a freak sport where you need to have rich parents, who sit in your players' box for every single week of the whole year, and you need to talk to your coaches' box between every shot.'
Tennis is all about mental toughness, and you have to keep your head in the game. I make time to relax away from competition pressures, travel and intense training schedules to make sure I'm looking after myself. Taking time out with family and friends helps to maintain the work-life balance everyone needs.