Ht: 6-4 Wt: 220

Born On: December 23, 1970 In: Cincinnati, Ohio

Childhood Heroes: “Man, I never had a bunch of heroes. KISS – the rock group KISS because my brother liked KISS. Rocky – because I watched the movie Rocky. I mean, I lived in a small village, I think that’s a great attribute of my success – is that I never really had heroes. I had to become my own hero.”

Favorite Movies: “Rocky, Rambo [laughs]. I liked that Enemy of the State, just because I’m all about infiltrating the media and watching how communication just seeps through like a virus, through humanity. Of course, that’s what I do with my message – is infect the human race with it. I like that kinda stuff. Dude, I don’t watch movies, I don’t watch TV. Read, read.”

Hobbies/Interests: “I spend all my time working out, reading Emerson, Nietzsche, Anthony Robbins, Napolean Hill, Deepak Chopra, all the great minds of our time. I spend my time reading and working out, and then putting that into myself, which is communicated right here through myself.”

Musical Tastes: “[He begins to sing and strum his guitar] I’m Naked Cowboy, coming to a town near you. [Talking again] I don’t listen to radio, only listen to my stuff. Everything I do is literally outside the scope of what humanity is doing.”

Childhood Dream: “I wanted to be the most famous motherf***er to ever live the face of the earth and that’s what I am.”

Early Naked Cowboy Memory: “It’s all been one big, long blur [laughs]. One big day. I mean literally. I’ve been doing this exact same thing for over ten years now. I’ve been outside, literally, in public, in crowds this big, every day since I started. I started out with personal development goals – financial, social, historical, physiological – all of which you could read at nakedcowboy.com. I’ve got like six books that I’ve written to date. They can be read at nakedcowboy.com. Again, the goal is to dominate the commercial landscape of the entire world. And to raise the physical, financial and social, you know, basically the success standards for mankind. That’s what I’m doing.”

Greatest Career Moment: “Right this moment. I’m at the peak, height of my moment. I look for nothing but the present moment.”

Most Painful Moment: “Right now [laughs]. Everything’s in the present, dude. Everything’s present tense here.”

Funny Career Memory: “I don’t find anything funny.”

Embarrassing Moment: “No embarrassing…I don’t…”

Favorite Meal: “Chicken and vegetables. I eat it every meal. (Three times a day?) Six or seven times a day. Chicken, turkey, egg whites, white fish, mixed vegetables, water and black coffee. Marijuana if I’m smoking it, but lately I’m not.”

Favorite Breakfast Cereal: “No such thing.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Don’t eat ice cream. It’s for babies.”

First Job: “Theft [laughs]. (How old?) 15-16, you know, being a little punk.”

First Car: “I think my dad’s maroon Plymouth Duster he gave me.”

Favorite Vacation Spot: “I consider the entire world my playground.”

People Qualities Most Admired: “Number one quality in the entire world is individualism. That comes from being free, which very few people are.”

Strange Encounter with a Fan: “I had a little old lady in New Orleans Mardi Gras grab my balls and said, Just want to see what you got there, Buster! Only lady that’s every done it. She was about 105. Awesome. Thousand dollars a day, up and down Bourbon Street. Just like here. Only other place in the country where I can make that kind of money on a daily basis. I mean with dollars in the boots. That’s not counting sponsors, endorsements and everything else worldwide, that’s really over the top at this point.”

Tennis Inspiration: “Watching my idols play back at Wimbledon or at the U.S. Open, wanting to maybe be like them one day. Practice hard. Maybe when I was #1 junior in the world when I was 17 years old, I hoped to maybe one day maybe equal that feat on the men’s tour, also become #1 on the world there. So I’m happy I chose tennis, put it that way.”

Ht: 6-1 Wt: 177

DOB: August 8, 1981 In: Basel, Switzerland

Childhood Heroes: “Stefan Edberg – actually my favorite of all-time. Boris Becker – first favorite when I was small. Pete Sampras.”

Nicknames: Rogie, Federer Express.

Hobbies/Leisure Activities: “Sports in general, cinema, deep sea fishing, relaxing in the beach, friends, music, skiing.”

First Tennis Memory: “I remember always loving to play against the cupboards, against the doors at home. With any kind of ball…soft ball, tennis ball. My mom (Lynette) always got pissed off at me, because, Bang, bang, bang!, all day long [smiles].”

 Favorite Movies: “Good Will Hunting, Entrapment, Enemy of the State.”

Musical Tastes: “Anything on top of the charts all over the world, AC/DC, Metallica, Lenny Kravitz.”

Pre-Match Feeling: “As always, before an important match, always very nervous. It’s a good feeling. It shows I think that match is very important to me. Once I’m on the court, that’s not so much the pressure, that’s the easy part. It’s what I love to do. In the beginning of the match, you hope you just play okay. Which is, start to play, get the rhythm and everything. And after two or three games, you’re not nervous anymore.”

First Job: “Never had one. I stopped school at 16 and started playing tennis.”

Early Tennis Memory: “I was playing a friend named Marco (Chiudinelli) when I was 14. Playing in Basel. And it was like six o’clock. And this bird just goes on the net [smiles]. My friend – he didn’t see the bird – and he starts serving. And he serves…and the little bird, Boom! Right on the body. The bird fell on my side of the net. And it was on the ground, like shaking, then, Boom, dead. Feathers all over the court. He didn’t know what happened. I’m like, Stop, stop! There’s a bird on the net. And he goes, Boom, and just hits it. That was unbelievable.”

Childhood Dream: “Always had tennis in my mind. Tennis was my dream. To me, Wimbledon was always the special one. Because my heroes were Becker, Edberg and Sampras. I just hope that I always be healthy and not injured.

Greatest Sports Moment: “I think I have so many [smiles]. I think the four Grand Slams are fantastic and each has a special place for me. Australian – I became number one in the world. Wimbledon – I broke Pete’s record (by winning his 15th slam title). The U.S. Open – I won it five years in a row.  French Open (became third man in Open era to win all four grand slams). And the Olympic gold medal in doubles (2008). So I think those are the best moments of my career.”

Most Painful Moment: “One good thing about me is that I forget matches, even bad matches, very quickly. I get sad about not having played well but I don’t really get (upset). By the time I get back to the hotel, it’s completely forgotten and I’m fine.”

Is There A Secret To Your Success: “I guess not, no. Hard work and belief that I can win every match I play. I’ve come a long way. I never thought I’ll ever play so well and dominate tennis. I’m just really having a great time.”

Favorite Meal(s): “Tomatoes and mozzarella di buffala. And gnocchi and gorgonzola, sausage, cheese, salad.”

Favorite Breakfast Cereal: “Rice Crispies [laughs].”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Strawberry.”

Closest Tennis Friends: “I am lucky to speak three languages, and this opens many doors to making friends with other players. I reckon I have an excellent contact with many other players on the Tour. I do spend a lot of time with the other Swiss players when they are also at the tournaments.”

Toughest Opponents: “Nadal. Djokovic. Murray. Roddick. Nalbandian. Safin.”

 Favorite Athletes To Watch: “FC Basel. Zinedine Zidane. Francesco Totti. Michael Jordan. Lennox Lewis. Wladimir Klitschko. Peter Forsberg. More and more hockey. American football was not too interesting to me. Too many breaks in the action. Plus I don’t understand the rules too good.”

Favorite Tennis Players To Watch: “I just like to watch tennis. I’m flippin’ through the channels and see a match – really no matter who is playing – I just like the game very much. One player I would really like to watch is Bjorn Borg. Because I never really had the chance to see him when he was at his best. And from what I’ve seen and heard, he is a very special player and obviously a great champion.”

People Qualities Most Admired: “That they smile a lot. Friendly. Helpful. I have a motto that I like: It’s nice to be important, but it’s important to be nice. And don’t lie. I don’t like it when somebody lies. Because I never lie.”

Check out Scoop’s tennis site: www.tennis-prose.com