I still have this image: I can't be controversial, I can't say things.

My first U.S. Open I think was just very special for me because that was sort of the beginning of what was a 'Cinderella' story for me.

I realized that with hard work, the world was your oyster. You could do anything you wanted to do.

You pay a price for everything in life.

In tennis, at the end of the day you're a winner or a loser. You know exactly where you stand... I don't need that anymore. I don't need my happiness, my well-being, to be based on winning and losing.

Now that I'm losing some, I can see how tough I was -- the killer instinct, the single-mindedness, playing like a machine. Boy, that's what made me a champion.

Competitive toughness is an acquired skill and not an inherited gift.