Boris Becker

If I go into a club now, all the blonde girls leave my corner and all the black girls come into my corner. It’s as if I’m racist towards white girls!

I can’t change history, I don’t want to change history. I can only change the future. I’m working on that.

For a year, I had all sorts of weirdos coming on to me.

I’m a different man now. I’m still a romantic, I still believe in love, but when I met Barbara I was looking for it. Now, I don’t know.

Thats the hard part about sport: as men we havent started to be in our prime, but as athletes we are old people. I needed support. I lost trust and did stupid things.

The suit-and-tie job is very nice, but it’s not really who I am in my heart.

I know my serve stinks, but I was a pretty good tennis player.

Two weeks ago, I was in a fantastic situation, winning at Roland Garros. Now, losing in the first round, it’s tough. The tour continues. Life continues. This is a sport of victories, not a sport of losses. Nobody remembers the losses. I don’t want to remember the loss.

I love the crowds in Miami. I feel that is one of the tournaments where I get more support. That helps me a lot.

My serve can get better, for sure. It’s not just about serving bombs, but positioning, variation in speed, in spin.

When one player is better than you, at this moment, the only thing you can do is work, try to find solutions and try to wait a little bit for your time. I’m going to wait and I’m going to try a sixth time. And if the sixth doesn’t happen, a seventh. It’s going to be like this. That’s the spirit of sport.

I will do as I usually do. Tomorrow is going to be a day like any other day.

In the second, I told myself just to hold my serve and try and be aggressive on his serve, and hopefully get a break. I also applied more topspin on my forehand. Once I won the second game after being 0-30 down, my confidence also went up.

Our strategy [at Chelsea] is to bring up our own players through the academy, which we have invested a lot in, and hope it gives results.

Honesty, willingness to exert oneself, friendship – all these things shaped me too.

You just try to play tough and focus point for point. Sounds so boring, but it’s the right thing to do out there.

I always like to do the things that I think are right. I am not trying to be a model, I am trying to be myself and do the right things. If what I am doing is a model, or is an example, is the right example, I am very happy, but I don’t pretend that.

Outside the manager, John [Terry] and I have probably the closest relationship with Roman. We speak to him sometimes just minutes after a game to discuss how it went and at other times when he wants to gauge our views on specific subjects … Abramovich is also very like Mourinho in his thirst to discover the reasons behind a certain event or result.

Sport has the power to change the world.

I think when you compete every week, when you play under pressure daily, you find your rituals to be 100 percent focused on what you’re doing.

Everyone is entitled to have their own opinions.