Trying to learn to be a good man is like learning to play tennis against a wall. You are only a good man - a competent, capable, interesting and lovable man - when you're doing it for, or with, other people.
I often speak about tennis being one of the most important sports when I was growing up, for my hand-eye coordination and quick feet.
I'm the Bjorn Boerg of table tennis.
My great grandfather from my father's side, Sir Akbar Hydari, was the prime minister of the Nizam of Hyderabad. He was instrumental in setting up the Osmania university. His wife set up the Hydari club for women so that they could play tennis, and she also set up the first girls' school in Hyderabad.
I used to play rugby, polo, tennis, and cricket in school. It was only in the 1990s, when I used to live just opposite Harrods in London, that I started putting on weight. I used to have my breakfast there every day.
In polo, you jump on a horse and you play. To play tennis, you have to train every day. It's your legs that do all the work. In polo, it's the horses' legs.
To me, anyone with an Australian accent wielding a tennis racket is cool.
This is a dream from when I was kid. I'm playing tennis almost 18 years, and of course everybody's dream is to play the final of a Grand Slam.
To me, acting is like tennis. You're only as good as the person you're playing with, so if you're playing with Michael C. Hall, what do you have to worry about?
If I hadn't become a chef I would have loved to be a top tennis player, although I was never good enough so it wasn't really an option. But that has never dimmed my love of the game, which started in childhood when I was lucky enough to be a ball boy at Wimbledon.
