I was aware of how incredible the match was. Unfortunately there had to be a winner. From my point of view many left feeling sorry for me instead of being happy for Rafa. Which hurts.

To handle that stardom, the red carpets, the photo shoots, people all of a sudden recognizing you and following you in everyday life, it's a bit weird. It's strange, and it can have funny effects on you in terms of do you like it or don't you like it. Some people run away from it, some people embrace it; I found a good middle ground.

I definitely feel there's room for improvement.

You can be stubborn and successful or you can give it up a bit and change things around. For me it's important to have a bit of both.

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.

I don't know how you can go through a four-hour match with Rafa and he never gets a time violation.

For me, it's important that a fan can buy something that is related to me. Like in soccer, you buy a shirt and it's got somebody's name on the back. That's kind of a cool thing.