"I am so proud to have him around. It is very pity that I am not able to play with Pete Sampras, but it's okay; I can see Federer on the tour. I could tell my grandson someday that I have competed against the greatest player on the planet."

“For me Roger is the greatest player ever who played the tennis game. It’s always good to see him play and win and we are going to see so much more of Federer in the future; he is going to win more grand slam tournaments.”

“I would suggest that his next opponents don't look to me for advice”

“He's a real person. He's not an enigma. Off the court he's not trying to be somebody. If you met him at McDonald's and you didn't know who he was, you would have no idea that he's one of the best athletes in the world.”

“No, the other one was a night session too and I was wearing a white! No I'm not superstitious at all as you can see and… I try not to be… and because I try no to be, I guess I am… So it's really strange!”

“Because he can cover so well to the forehand, it really allows him to stay at home in the backhand corner. That backhand corner gets smaller and smaller, sort of dares you to hit the forehand. There's a lot of times you do, and you're thinking that it's a good idea, then a second later you're going, 'Why did I do that?'”

“I never waited 27 years, because 27 years ago I was just born. My parents never told me, 'If you don't win Roland Garros we take you to the orphanage.'”