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Peer behind the splendour of Centre Court, Tomas Berdych told me, and you will see that "tennis is the hardest sport of all".
"You can look at these kind of fairytale stories of players travelling the world and making a lot of money and getting lots of attention, but I would honestly say that tennis is the hardest sport of all," said Berdych, who will play Andy Murray on Friday for a place in the Wimbledon final. "You look at the other side, away from those fantasy stories, and ask how many people didn't make it."
How many players dedicate their childhoods and teenage years to the sport and then never compete on the outside courts at the All England Club, let alone on Centre Court? "You basically sacrifice almost everything to try to become a tennis player - some kids don't even finish school - and you give everything to the sport and then it doesn't really work out. There are some really tough examples of people who didn't make it, who have sacrificed all those years of their life," said the 30-year-old, who is on his deepest run at Wimbledon since he was the runner-up to Rafael Nadal in 2010.
I recently spent a day with Berdych on the set of a photo shoot for men’s fashion retailer Mr Porter. Over the course of that day at a villa in the French town of Menton, a short car ride from his home in Monte Carlo, I gained some insight into arguably the best player of his generation yet to win a Grand Slam title.
On whether players socialise off court
"People are always saying, 'OK, so you go out with him for dinner?' And I have to say, 'No, no, no, it doesn't really work like that'. We all have our teams and the people we have close to us, and that's pretty much the people you want to surround yourself with when you're at a tournament. It's not like you're going out with the other guys and talking about everything. The top guys really want to have their privacy. You want to be relaxed and that means you don't really want to see the other guys. When you're done at the tennis, then you can switch off. That's not meant to sound bad, but that's just how it is - it's everyone trying to do their best."
Louis Vuitton for Unicef @louisvuitton @unicef #MakeAPromise#louisvuittonforunicef pic.twitter.com/NtDRjc0Vve
— EsterBerdychSatorova (@EsterSatorova) March 21, 2016
On the Grand Slam he has the greatest chance of winning
"I would say Wimbledon, even if it feels as though the grass isn't maybe as quick as it used to be. Now that the grass isn't so fast, it's opened up the tournament to players of different styles."
On life on the road
"Honestly, I don't count how many weeks of the year I'm away from home, but I'm going to play maybe 25 or more tournaments this year, and most of them are one week long, and six of them are two weeks. There is some training in between and also some travel. I would say 35, maybe up to 38 weeks away. That travel is part of my life. I'm not complaining about it because you have to take it as part of your life or job. This isn't a job for life, you're only doing it for a few years, so you have to give it full effort. You don't want to be thinking, 'Oh, maybe I should be staying at home'. It's as it is. All other business guys have to do it - you have to travel, that's just part of the job."
Tennis has three greats playing at the same time with Djokovic, Federer and Nadal. And tennis has never had that before
On changing his diet to help him deal with jet lag
"I did some blood tests to work out, one by one, how my body reacted to certain food types, and whether I had any allergies or intolerances. The last two years, when I've got strict with my diet, that's helped me a lot with coping with jet lag, recovering and getting better sleep."
On changing his image through social media
"The way tennis is at the moment, everyone needs to be super focused if they want to be successful. They have to be in the match, they have to be almost perfect, and that makes it difficult to show too much emotion, or too much personality. When you get distracted, it's game over, you can't be competitive. You can't show anything on the court. So then maybe the public are saying, 'OK, so what should I think about this guy?' Then I realised that social media would let me show the public who I am, what I like, how I feel when I'm not playing, what I do when I'm not playing. Then all of a sudden they realise that I'm different from the person I am on the court."
On the standard of men’s tennis
"Tennis has three greats playing at the same time, with Djokovic, Federer and Nadal. And tennis has never had that before. I would say that tennis is at an incredible level right now."
On his pursuit of a first Grand Slam title
"My take on this is that if I win a Slam it would be an even bigger achievement because it's such a tough era. It would be easy to look at it in another way and to become frustrated and be disappointed by that. By what are you going to achieve by thinking in that way? Nothing, really. In my eyes, it's important to see it in a positive rather than a negative way. It's extremely tough. Every win over those guys is appreciated."
On how the greats of the game have motivated Berdych to improve
"I would say that Federer, Djokovic and Nadal have made all the others much better players than they would otherwise have been. We are trying to get to their level, we are trying to chase them, we are trying to get better. That's why the whole level of tennis is so much higher. Those guys are really pushing me to be a better player, and to be the best I can possibly be. There's also a new generation coming up - guys like Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios - and that's going to make it even more challenging."
On marriage following his wedding to fashion model Ester Satorova last summer
"Marriage hasn't changed how I see tennis. I would say that tennis and my personal life are two completely different things. I think I just got to the stage in my life where I decided that it was right for us to get married, that it was what we wanted to do. Also, it could be that all of us [at the top of the game] are of a similar age, and we're all getting older, and so people get married, that's just natural."
On leading a quiet life away from the tour
"My wife and I try to keep it private. We don't give the media any opportunities to write stories about our personal lives. We try to keep it private, very secret, and so far it has been all good. What's great about living in Monaco is that there are so many famous faces around that it's normal for them, they're used to it, and it's nothing special. I've never had any issues or problems. There's more attention when I'm in the Czech Republic, of course. But it hasn't been extreme - maybe there have been one or two cases of photographers following me."
On on-court fashion
"Feeling good about your clothes does help you to play tennis, that's a part of it. For me, the most important thing is the quality of the product, and how it fits, as you're sweating and moving. The design is important. Playing tennis is like assembling a huge puzzle - you need to put together every single piece. And fashion is part of that. When you feel good in what you're wearing on the court, and it fits well and it looks good, then great."
On off-court fashion
"I don't have one look - I change my style based on how I'm feeling. Fashion is a part of how you can express yourself, how you feel and what mood you're in. I also respect the occasion - I'm not going to turn up in ripped denim for a cocktail dinner. I haven't always been interested in fashion - it's only in the last few years that I have taken an interest, and I would say that's because of my wife. Ever since we met, four or so years ago, she has got me into it much more. Fashion is her world. So I came to like it, but I needed a little bit of guidance about what to wear. Fashion has now become a part of my life and something I really enjoy."
On his favourite restaurants on tour
"I pretty much go to the same restaurants when I'm in different cities. When you're in my position, you play 95 per cent of the same tournaments each year. You also know where you're going to stay. Some players don't care so much, but I personally really like it. I enjoy the experience of being in the restaurant and having some good food. I like to look for new, interesting restaurants. With my diet, it's a little bit restricted, but in general I try to look for places that have fresh products. I like simple grilled fish and Italian cuisine, that sort of thing. I also like Japanese. Bars? Not really. There's no time. That's the last, last thing that you look at when you're at a tournament. And when you get that opportunity, you just find somewhere."
On being happy
"This is the best job in the world. I'm making a living from a sport I love. I can't find one reason to complain."
