I think he's very talented. You know, I think had he gone about his career by investing in himself a little bit more, by choosing his tournaments, by trying to peak for the right tournament, I think he could have accomplished a lot more than he has.

When you see a little bit of that edge off, when he comes down into just warp speed, it gives you a little breath of life.

I kept my head down and kept wanting to make him earn it. In the third and fourth set, I felt I was a bit living on the edge with my serve. But then in the fifth, I settled down a little bit on my service games and put enough pressure on him to get that break.

The third and fourth set, I felt I was a bit living on the edge with my serve. He was getting a lot of good swings at it, had me under a lot of pressure. But the fifth, I had a few good easy hold games and started to relax a little bit more and hit my spots a little bit better, so that helped me to relax on my return games, as well.

In your first match it's always a bit awkward, it's the new year and you're getting used to conditions,

I just couldn't get my teeth back in the match. I started second-guessing my shots. I never found the pace I was looking for. I played too big some points and some points I would try to control a bit more. Then I'd give him too good of a look.

There's always a bit of working out between each player to be done. He got off to a good start and I had to play well to close him out, it felt good to get through that way.

It's all a bit surreal, ... I get out there and I try to work and I come off the court and many times in my career I feel like it's been a dream. That's the way it feels here.

It's always a bit sad when somebody you spent so much time with over the years, played so many matches against, decides it's time for them to move on. But I'm sure he'll embrace this next stage of his life with the same standards he's shown out there for all these years.