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Tennis helped give me an identity and made me feel like somebody.

It was very hard for me to practice and enjoy my tennis, and I didn't know the why, so I worked with psychologists to try and see what was happening. They pushed me really hard.

I was a very shy character, always feeling uncomfortable because everybody was stronger than I, and always afraid I would look like a sissy. Everybody else played baseball; everybody else did all kinds of athletic things.

I was being groomed to be a tennis player for sure. My grandparents and parents realised I had a natural athletic ability and if I was forced to do it, I could probably do well. But all I wanted was to play pretend.

For the first couple of years I played really bad tennis. It was so bad that they booed me off the court.

Later, I discovered there was a lot of work to being good in tennis.

With everything else that would swirl around me when I got involved in it, tennis was my main concern.

It was so inspiring for me to watch tennis growing up. I thought I was really good playing, until my brother told me I wasn't!

Tennis was never work for me, tennis was fun. And the tougher the battle and the longer the match, the more fun I had.

I was so horrifically bad at tennis.