It's tough when you're No. 1. You don't have any private life, you can't even walk anywhere. I think that was one reason why I lost my motivation to play tennis.

It's not easy to part with the trophies. However, I do need to have some long-term financial security for those close to me.

My greatest point is my persistence. I never give up in a match. However down I am, I fight until the last ball. My list of matches shows that I have turned a great many so-called irretrievable defeats into victories.

You know growing up in Sweden meant we had a lot of rain when we played tennis. We were taught on clay courts but because of the weather, we had to go indoors a lot.

Basically I started playing double handed on both my forehand and backhand side because my first racket was very heavy.

Tennis is a traditional game. A big sport like tennis does not need too many changes. The game has become too fast, there are hardly any long, interesting rallies these days. So maybe slowing down the courts could help. But you can't really stop a sport from evolving.

On Rafael Nadal: Every point he plays is like match point. That's why he's the champion right now.

I wanted to win, even in practice.

I have a great family, great kids. I have practically everything, you know? Sometimes I have to pinch myself. It's really true: Life starts at 50.

He [Jimmy Connors] has one weakness. He can never say his opponent played well. That's why it feels good to beat him and that's why other players would rather beat him than any other player.

I play tennis five hours a week, from Monday to Friday, for one hour every day. I like to be fit. If I can't exercise, I feel bad - I need to sweat and run to feel like I'm in good shape.

You never know how long Federer is going to play, but in my opinion he has at least one or two more grand slams to win. It depends how long he stays motivated. For me, he is the greatest player to ever play the game.