It's not that difficult to play well and win titles in a team like Barcelona, but it's in the national side where you see a player's true class. That was the case with figures like Pele, Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane. With Spain, Iniesta has shown that he is among the best players of all time and that's why I rate him higher than Messi or Ronaldo. Even though the latter two have incredible scoring records for their clubs, they still haven't won anything with Argentina or Portugal respectively.
Boris BeckerThe boys are so powerful off of the baseline now that they don't have to come to the net to finish points. That's the reason we went to the net. To finish the point. Nowadays, even the big guys can hit winners four feet behind the baseline.
Boris BeckerA few years after my first son was born, he wanted to know how we chose his name, so I began reading him the story of Noah's Ark.
Boris BeckerI lost in the second round of the French Open and had 10 days off. I went to the Hard Rock Cafe. It was exciting to be away from my parents, to stay in a hotel. Hotels at 17 meant freedom.
Boris BeckerI met with my lawyers. They gave me all the wrong advice. For a long time I refused to accept the child was mine. I should have met her, arranged a DNA test and accepted my responsibility.
Boris BeckerI want to be a hero, a small and good kind of hero, even though I know heroes have very short lives.
Boris BeckerI was in the tennis bubble. I wasn't thinking about the big picture. I didn't notice what they said on television, I wasn't reading any papers. I had a coach and a manager, and they kept me in the bubble.
Boris BeckerTennis is a psychological sport, you have to keep a clear head. That is why I stopped playing.
Boris BeckerI can't change history, I don't want to change history. I can only change the future. I'm working on that.
Boris BeckerTennis has to be very careful.Not everyone is a computer, it is very good we have John McEnroe. I hope we have a couple more.
Boris BeckerWhen I was a child, I had posters of James Dean in my room. I was a big admirer of his work and was fascinated by him living on the edge. Looking back, my life was kind of the same.
Boris BeckerI don't really care what the man on the street thinks. I never did anything to please him in the first place, and I'm not going to start now.
Boris BeckerWe 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.
Boris BeckerIts silly to say it about a tennis player, but Im an unbelievable hero in Germany. And Germany needs heroes more than any place.
Boris BeckerHow do you build a relationship when you've hardly shared a word but suddenly share a child? How do you love a daughter you don't see for nearly two years? When does she become your daughter? How does she become your daughter?
Boris BeckerGirls had never been important. I'd had a girlfriend or two and had liked them a lot but it wasn't love, because my first love was tennis.
Boris BeckerWhen you are thrown onto the stage at 17 in such an enormous way, it becomes living on the edge because every step you take, every word you speak, every action you do becomes headline news. And it became, for me, life or death.
Boris BeckerThats the hard part about sport: as men we havent started to be in our prime, but as athletes we are old people. I needed support. I lost trust and did stupid things.
Boris BeckerIf I go into a club now, all the blonde girls leave my corner and all the black girls come into my corner. It's as if I'm racist towards white girls!
Boris BeckerI drew my strength from fear. Fear of losing. I don't remember the games I won, only the games I lost.
Boris Becker