Thank you very much to Match Point ministries and Good Sports Magazine Show for presenting me the 2010 Spiritually Tough award. I am truly honored and humbled. To be honored by those I highly esteem touches my heart, and I only hope that my Lord feels the same as my peers.

Of course, Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of spiritual toughness, and my motivation for playing is to honor him. I try to do this by playing with an attitude of thanks for my abilities and opportunities to play tennis, loving my opponent by pushing him to be his best by my play, making the most of what I have been given by pursuing with joy and passion to be the best player I can be, and hopefully being in relationships with other players, fans, and coaches in positive, challenging, and loving ways.

I consider tennis an act of worship and celebration to God, and I hope it is just one part of an overall lifestyle of worship. I am motivated by the scripture in Colossians 3:23 "whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord, not men."

Of course, as God and others know, I fall short all the time and will do so many more times. But I will try to press on and allow Christ to have his way in me, and I am so thankful that Christ loves me so much that he would bear the penalty for my sin, so that I would not be separated from him. It is in this spirit of thanks, gratitude, celebration, and joy in Christ that I accept this award.

Hope to see you all soon on the tennis courts.