Quotes from Grigor Dimitrov

I never thought I was going to make a career out of tennis, to be honest, until I was 10 or 11 years old. One of my earliest memories is when I was seven, and I was competing against players that were three, four years older than me. I didn't take it too seriously at the time. I was having a lot of fun.

I'm terrible at relaxing and holidays. For me, a day off is going to the gym. I could never just lie on the beach and read a book.

You never know how many times you're going to be able to come out on Rod Laver Arena and just play.

I like to stay away from that red carpet world unless I absolutely have to do it. I'd rather put on my Tom Ford suit and take a few pictures at home.

Tennis is such a fun game. One of the things that I really like is that everything depends on you. Before certain matches, you might have those butterflies, but that's the excitement. There's a ton of emotion that you're going through.

I would love when that day comes so I can prove everyone wrong, but in the same time prove to myself I can be the best I can be.

Tennis is my dream. It is what I love. And it is what I want to be best at.

At some point in your life, you need to sit down and say, 'What do I want to do? How do I want to be remembered? What's my legacy? And what's important to me?'

You have to forget you are playing against your idol, because the guy on the other side also wants to play better than you and beat you. I don't think you should allow yourself to think like this when you go against any player.

I'm a very good sleeper, especially during a tournament; I usually get eight hours a night, even before a big match.

One tournament can change everything for you. You never know when that tournament might be.

I think the first step is definitely Top 5. From there, you can sort of see the end, and that's the top. In order to do that, you need to win Slams and big tournaments. That's just proven. There is no other way.

I even remember the first contract I ever signed. I was 13 or 14... my dad said, 'It's your choice. It's your life.'

In the beginning, I thought the Federer comparisons were cool, but after a while, I wasn't happy with it. It's not the best thing you can hear as you're trying to develop, as it puts extra pressure on a young kid.

You're going to play a lot of tournaments during the year, a lot of traveling. If you have a good set of mind, you're committed to the work, you want to do that work, and you definitely got to do it. Doesn't matter if you have four, five, six losses in a row, that doesn't have to discourage you to stop all of a sudden.

I've always felt that's something I'm capable of doing - setting up a trend.

I really believe that I can be the No 1, but for that to happen, I probably need to win a couple of grand slams, and they are not going to fall from the sky.

Once the opportunities knock on your door, you've got to try and go get them. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. But at the same time, you've got to keep going.

There is always a dream, for me, in the locker room before matches as well during the day. If you have a strong mind, a strong tendency to keep you strong, I think your dream is coming.

It's always tricky to play against a player who you've never played against.

Trust me: it's no fun where we're on the fourth set, or you've got to serve second serve on a break point down.

I love design; to create stuff from ground zero is the best for me. I'm always so intense when I talk about that.

It's very hard to look at the man in the mirror. Because you can't hide anything.

I appreciate where I come from. I never forget.