"The scenario was similar to last evening's match, but I managed to win and qualify for the semis. Thanks to my team, I felt better than last night. It's a very strange feeling, sharing the court with your compatriots."
"Obviously the crowd was phenomenal for both players in yesterday's match and today. They're very rare occasions when I'm able to play at home and experience this atmosphere, so I'm trying to enjoy every single moment. I'm very pleased that I'm not going to play a Serbian player. That's going to be very nice for a change."
"Every stage of your career — especially after playing for 20 years on the Tour — has its differences in terms of how you approach things mentally. My life has changed so much over the last 10 years, and my body as well."
"So you have to adapt to that, understand these changes, understand what I'm going through and figure out the biology of things. I constantly strategise, organise and plan with my team that helps me to peak at the right time and be able to compete with the young guys."
"For me, age is just a number. I sincerely feel younger than 35. All these expectations from people, they got used to seeing you at that level for 10, 15 years. They always expect you to be winning 99 per cent of the matches. But obviously that's not possible. You have to accept the fact that you going to lose, that you're not going to feel good, that it might take more time to get into the groove."
"There's so many different factors that effect the outcome that you see and the performance on the court. But the discipline needs to always be present. Before discipline, I would say it's commitment and devotion. If you're not committed and devoted, then you're not going to have as much discipline that is necessary."
"But even before that is, obviously, what drives you: Why are you playing? And for me, I try to always draw the strength from the love and passion for the game."
"I choose to play. No one is forcing me to play. I've done enough in my career that I could stop today. But I still feel motivated and inspired. I love to play in front of people, of course here in Serbia is a unique opportunity for me, and those kind of unique occasions feed me with good energy."
"I love being here and I love competing. I also, as weird as it sounds, I love being devastated by losing big matches. Because I know that means that I care about winning and being able to compete with the best players in the world."
Loading