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.
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?
Obviously, matches and all that stuff takes its toll on your body and so forth. But as you get sort of a bit older, a bit wiser, and a bit more experienced, you know also how to handle it.
My dad said if you become a tennis professional just make sure you get into the top hundred, because you have to make a little bit of money. You make a living so you can pay your coaching and, you know, your travels.
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.
One or two years ago, I didn’t know who I was on court and I used to swear a lot. But now I’ve learned how to cope and can therefore win 10 matches in a row. I want to be remembered as a good player rather than an idiot on court.
Sometimes I am a different character in different languages. I have different enjoyment from them. Sometimes different answers come out of me. Like, I didnt even know that about me. I get to know myself through different languages, actually.
I had a nice dinner. I let the evening unfold, flow. I like to sit in a chair with a wine glass. When I woke up, I thought, ‘Why didn’t I go to bed at 11?’ I came back at 3 and went to bed at 5.
The serve, I think, is the most difficult, you know, in terms of coordination, because you got the two arms going, and you got to toss it up at the right time so.
Maybe further down the road in my career, in a couple of years when I’m maybe not that fast any more around the court, then maybe it would be good to come to the net a little bit more often.
