It was really impossible to break through in Russia. We couldn't buy any balls. We really didn't have any courts, no rackets, nothing. And no people to practice with.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Russia is tough. The history, the land, the people - brutal.
The great drama of Russian history has been between its state and society. Put simply, Russia has always had too much state and not enough society.
I played baseball in college, and then I went to Russia to study acting and played some pro ball over there.
In my view, Russia has not been a particularly collaborative player on the world stage.
Russia will occupy most of the good food lands of central Europe while we have the industrial portions. We must find some way of persuading Russia to play ball.
We have been getting out of the situation where we found ourselves in the early '90s, when the Soviet Union disappeared and the Russian Federation became what it is - you know, with no borders, with no budget, no money, and with huge problems starting with lack of food and so on and so forth.
Long term I do believe internationally there is a huge misunderstanding of Russia.
The tennis ball doesn't know how old I am. The ball doesn't know if I'm a man or a woman or if I come from a communist country or not. Sport has always broken down these barriers.
Russia has nothing: no successful politics or economy.
We were fortunate to have the Russians as our childhood enemies. We practiced hiding under our desks in case they had the temerity to drop a nuclear weapon.
No opposing quotes found.