The press used to call me Nasty. But really I'm just an entertainer. Sure, I lost it a few times on the court, but that's because I'm an emotional man. I never intended to put off any of my opponents. Arthur Ashe - or negroni, as I used to call him - was one of my best friends on tour and that should tell you that no one ever felt my antics were malicious.

I was born in Bucharest in 1946, and even as a child I lived for tennis. My parents were extremely supportive, but early on they decided not to come to any of my matches or take any interest in what I was doing. When I rung them to tell them I had won the French Open in 1973, my dad said, 'What's that?' Deep down, I knew this was his way of showing he loved me.

Romanian players were rarely allowed to leave the country in the 60s and I never really learnt to develop my skills against better players until I was in my 20s. These days, a player is considered past it by the time he is 25! Even when we did leave the country, we were given little money, and Ion Tiriac and I would often sleep on the beach to make ends meet. Ion was much older than me and I used to look up to him, but once he realised I was a much better player than him he started to resent me and ignore me. But I've never held a grudge about this.

I was actually very shy as a young man and it was a long time before I dared to speak to girls. But once I was on the tour, I soon made up for it!! It's hard to resist when girls are throwing themselves at you. I was as happy to use them as they were happy to use me.

A big highlight was 1972. I won my first grand slam tournament and got married. Dominique was different to the other girls: she didn't sleep with me on the first date. She was also very rich, and our wedding was a real society event. We were blissfully happy, and she gave me a beautiful daughter, Natalie.

Before long the marriage was in trouble. Tennis kept us apart and I have to admit I wasn't entirely faithful. I wasn't proud of this, but I wasn't really that bothered either. My focus was on my tennis and having a good time entertaining my fans. By now I was top of the world rankings and earning a great deal.

Some players find it hard to carry on when they are no longer the best, but I was happy to play doubles and Masters events. I also got married to Alexandra, but that didn't last. She couldn't cope with my infidelity either. Now, though, I'm a changed man. My new wife, Amalia, would never let me be unfaithful.

Romania has seen a lot of changes in my lifetime. Under Ceausescu, I never flaunted my wealth, unlike someone called Ion. He went back after the fall of the regime and made a lot of money. His choice. I prefer to be remembered as Mr Nice Guy.

The digested read ... digested

A few lobs, several smashes and a bucketful of points scored as the 70s sex god self-serves for the match