I never wanted to be the great guy or the colorful guy or the interesting guy. I wanted to be the guy who won titles.
I let my racket do the talking. That's what I am all about, really. I just go out and win tennis matches.
People wrote me off, but I believed in myself. I got the confidence back, and it grew and grew. I won my first major and my last at the place that changed my life.
It's not my place to tell you whom to vote for, to take any political stand, to tell you what religion to believe in. I'm an athlete. I can influence certain things, but when I see other athletes and celebrities telling you whom to vote for, I actually get a bit offended.
The difference of great players is at a certain point in a match they raise their level of play and maintain it. Lesser players play great for a set, but then less.
There's always one shot that I can rely on when I'm not hitting the ball that well, is my serve.
I did it my way, and I have no regrets when I look back on my career that it was just a big focus for me.
I've worked hard my whole life, since I was a little kid. But now it's a point in my life now where I can just enjoy it, but at the same time I still need to work.
Golfers are forever working on mechanics. My tennis swing hasn't changed in 10 years.
After I went through two years of not winning an event, what kept me going was winning one more major. Once I won that last U.S. Open, I spent the next six months trying to figure out what was next. Slowly my passion for the sport just vanished. I had nothing left to prove.
I've got a great wife, a great life.
Andre Agassi was my rival in the '90s, and I think as we got older we sort of transcended the game. He was probably the best player I ever played over my career. There's a list of players that were tough, but Andre, certainly, he was the most unique.
Where I fall down is my short game. I don't practice enough, and when I have to take a half swing from 50 yards out, that's trouble.
I hate to lose, and I do whatever I can to win, and if it is ugly, it is ugly.
I don't look at myself as a historical icon, but the reality of it is, yeah, I am playing for history now.
It is nice to walk out on a court to have it packed.
It's not easy to retire at 31. In one respect I was glad I was done. But after a few years of having fun, I got a little restless. When you're 33, 34, and you don't have a focus, you can get kind of lost. As a man, you feel a little bit unfulfilled.
You kind of live and die by the serve.
I am going to hold serve the majority of the time. It is nice to have a little time to return serve.
I could be a jerk and get a lot more publicity, but that's not who I am.
