Davis Cup is important.

Davis Cup is a completely different animal.

I've always wanted to play Davis Cup. I love Davis Cup.

I prefer playing ATP tournaments and Davis Cup competition rather than Olympic Games.

The Davis Cup should be home and away from the semi-finals as a minimum, I would say even the quarters.

Whether at the Olympic Games or during a Davis Cup tie I am extremely proud and honored to represent my country.

I think my best friends are my team-mates in Davis Cup. We have been growing up together since we were 11 or 12.

To come back from injury to qualify my country for the Davis Cup final and then to win my third trophy, it means a lot.

To me, there are only a few tournaments that are important. The Grand Slams, Davis Cup, the Swedish Open; that's about it.

When I was a kid in Adelaide, I dreamed of becoming No. 1 in the world, winning a grand slam and the Davis Cup for Australia.

No one cares about the Davis Cup. How many people know I won five Davis Cups and seven majors, but that I rarely played the Australian Open?

I got to play in a crowd, play in Wimbledon finals, be the guy on a Davis Cup team for a while. Those are opportunities not a lot of people get.

If Davis Cup was a little bit less or once every two years, I would be more inclined to play. But the way it is now, it is too much tennis for me.

I think there's no reason the Davis Cup couldn't be as powerful and popular and profitable as any of the four majors are today, given some changes.

And it was where I learned how to play tennis and eventually became captain of the tennis team at the school and was on the Junior Davis Cup in New York City.

I have sometimes played my best Davis Cup matches away from home when you stay in the moment a bit more. But it is tough when half the crowd are spitting on you.

The eyes of some of the fans at Davis Cup matches scare me. There's no light in them. Fixed emotions. Blind worship. Horror. It makes me think of what happened to us long ago.

Davis Cup helped me a lot. Being in that great atmosphere and having the chance to hit with top 50 guys everyday, being on the practice courts, that gave me a lot of confidence.

I was lucky enough to win the Davis Cup in my first year in 1999. I won my first slam at the U.S. Open in 2001 and became world No. 1 later that year. By the age of 20, I'd done it all.

We had a poster of the Davis Cup in 1986. It was in Prague, the Czech Republic against Sweden, and we went to watch, so I got the poster. You couldn't get all the posters. You were lucky if you got one.

The strongest feelings I experienced were in Davis Cup. It was the most powerful thing: the victories and the losses. It hits you in a distinct way. It's another level of satisfaction - another level of sadness.

I think that tennis has been in a place for many years without any change. Davis Cup and Fed Cup has always been a very exciting platform for players because it is such an individual sport, and we get to play a team competition. We love being part of a team.

I got to play in a crowd, play in Wimbledon finals, be the guy on a Davis Cup team for a while. Those are opportunities not a lot of people get. As much as I was disappointed and frustrated at times, I'm not sure that I ever felt sorry for myself or begrudged anybody any of their success.

I think all of us who kind of live within the sport recognize that Davis Cup certainly could be a little more visible if perhaps there were some adjustments made to it, and it was made a little bit more easy to understand for the fans, if there's a little bit more of a start and finish line.

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'm very sorry to Mr. Gabas, to whom I apologised in person. Very sorry for letting my Davis Cup teammates down and for letting my country down. I apologise to all the tennis fans, to my supporters, and my sponsors. I feel ashamed of my unprofessional behaviour and will accept any consequences as a result of my action.

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