Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work. I had to put in the time to get back. And it was a grind. It meant training and sweating every day. But I was completely committed to working out to prove to myself that I still could do it.

First of all, let me say, 1:15 in the morning, for 20,000 people to still be here, I wasn’t the winner, tennis was. That’s awesome. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so good here before.

You know my dad pushed me to believe that I was going to be the best. I just never thought of life without tennis, even looking forward.

Well, I actually tell my son that I don’t have any hair because he asked me the same question that I gave it to him when he was born, so he actually still believes that. He’s five years old.

Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work. I had to put in the time to get back. And it was a grind. It meant training and sweating every day. But I was completely committed to working out to prove to myself that I still could do it.

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’ve been motivated by overcoming challenge and overcoming the hurdles and obstacles that face me. There still is plenty out there to get motivated by.

I question myself every day. That’s what I still find motivating about this. I don’t have the answers, I don’t pretend that I do just because I won the match. Just keep fighting and maybe something good happens.

I feel old when I see mousse in my opponent’s hair.

Yes, for a long time but I admired her and respected everything that I could sort of see in her from a distance, the pillars of her life, the loyalties, the relationships. It all got my interest and also the looks.

Tennis was always sort of a – a learning. It was a vehicle for me to discover a lot about myself. And the things that I sort of discovered at times I not only didn’t want to see it for myself but I certainly didn’t want millions of people to see it.

I had my moments for sure but I wasn’t confrontational. And sometimes you get on the court and you’d find yourself very confrontational. It was all a discovery.

But, I would say when I was four years old and I was at the Alan King Tennis Tournament and I was hitting with all the pros that would come to town. They would get me on the court or take notice and that stayed with me.

What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.

My father actually moved out from Chicago just so he could play tennis 365 days a year, so it was – it was a place we played every day. We played before school. We played after school. We woke up. We played tennis. We brushed our teeth in that order.

I got a hundred bucks says my baby beats Pete’s baby. I just think genetics are in my favour.

Being number two sucks.

Sometimes it’s just harder to remind yourself about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it… Other times, you have a great desire for it, but physically you’re not responding the way you want. That presents other challenges. Then sometimes it all comes together.

I’m going to go down swinging… I’m sure as heck not going to go home and say I had a bad tournament.

I’m going to have to pick my shots and play great tennis.

If you don’t practice you don’t deserve to win.

I think one of the greatest joys I have now in my career and in my profession is to be playing at an age where I can appreciate it more than I used to… It’s a whole different lens you look through the older you get.

Well, you know, I’ve bonded with a lot of people over the years, you know. We played the same tournaments year after year and we go back to the same place and many times the seats have been full and that has meant the world to me for sure.

Some moments it feels longer, other moments it feels like it’s flown by; you can’t believe you’ve done it all that time… Overall, you have a strong sense for the full spectrum that you’ve sort of traveled.

You don’t cheat anybody out of their experience, whatever it is.

I had moments of my actions and words not reflecting who it is I am – if that defines a punk, then yes, absolutely.

It has meant a lot to me to challenge the best players in the world and to beat them. And it means a lot to me to be out here and fighting for the title and, you know, it hurts not to win it.

I’ve been criticized for not having perspective in the past and I thought that of myself many times but not there.