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The strongest feelings I experienced were in Davis Cup. It was the most powerful thing: the victories and the losses. It hits you in a distinct way. It's another level of satisfaction - another level of sadness.

I think all of us who kind of live within the sport recognize that Davis Cup certainly could be a little more visible if perhaps there were some adjustments made to it, and it was made a little bit more easy to understand for the fans, if there's a little bit more of a start and finish line.

I still look forward to doing things I've never done before. But the fear beforehand is always worse than the actual moment. Leading up to it, especially before the match, is when the butterflies are at their worst. But in the match, the creatures - my fans - fuel me. They're a huge superpower for me and my survival.

I have sometimes played my best Davis Cup matches away from home when you stay in the moment a bit more. But it is tough when half the crowd are spitting on you.

Sometimes you feel the emotion. You think this might be my last pre-season or my last Champions League match. But, overall, those thoughts aren't important right now. But the time will soon come.

Just like every person who works for Dortmund is a fan of the club, it was the same at Mainz. When I was a player there, we had 800 supporters on rainy Saturday afternoons, and if we died, no one would notice or come to our funeral. But we loved the club, and we have this same feeling at Dortmund.

Fans are afraid to meet me. They're sort of afraid for their lives and won't look me in the eye.

Two things scare me. The first is getting hurt. But that's not nearly as scary as the second, which is losing.

The fans have always been there for us, and they've realized when we were going through a hard time.