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

Big dreams are so damn tiring.

When I was 7 years old I saw Jimmy Connors make someone carry his bag, as though he were Julius Caesar. I vowed then and there that I would always carry my own.

Hitting a ball dead perfect - the only peace.

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.

In tennis you're on an island. Of all the games men and women play, tennis is the closest to solitary confinement.

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.