m just going to be a good friend to my kid. One thing I definitely want to change is that whole 'I don't want you to make the same mistakes' mentality. My dad didn't have much money growing up; he didn't have much of an education. He forced that on me, and I didn't want it.

But I stuttered as a kid. I went to classes to help it, and it just went away around fourth grade, when I became more aware of how others spoke, I think. But also, growing up in the South, a mumble is a way of speaking.

I can't do the same movies all my life. I'm conscious of that. But it's a trade-off. 'Dear John' allowed me to do movies I've wanted to do. You learn to balance it out. I'm still learning. Only now am I getting to do the kinds of movies that I have wanted to do. So it's a steady climb. You don't jump into a Soderbergh film.

I was not good in school. I could never read very fast or very well. I got tested for learning disabilities, for dyslexia. Then I got put on Ritalin and Dexedrine. I took those starting in the eighth grade. As soon as they pumped that drug into me, it would focus me right in.

Sports entertainment in general, it's a very competitive business.

Every Olympics, when I was growing up and playing basketball, my parents and I made it a point to sit down and watch the U.S.A. compete. To join that team later, and play and practice one-on-one with David Robinson, Larry Bird, Chris Mullens and all these guys I looked up to, was a dream come true.

I've had the good fortune to have a much more diverse life than most people would, professional sports and television and news and movies.

It's good to bring a different feel to tennis, and that's what I feel like I bring. I bring a different feel, a different swagger to tennis. I'm very easygoing, and very nonchalant, it looks like, when I'm out there - I've got a little strut, and I like that.