Rafael Nadal

Anyone could become a star, but everyone must be a human being.

Today people hit the ball with much more strength. Almost every player is capable of playing a winning stroke from any position. This means the balls arrive more quickly. If you want to reach them, you have to slow down from a high speed or suddenly change direction. These are moments when you can injure yourself, and that’s what wears us out.

I was shy when I was a kid, I was very shy, but now I think I’ve improved a lot. I can speak OK with the media and with the people. My English is still bad but I feel a little bit better now than before.

My tennis is aggressive, though I wouldn’t say that it’s more physical than technical. I rely more on technique than physique, but being physical is always a help to me.

It’s important to have people around you with enough confidence to say if you are not acting in a good way. Normally, when you are at the top, people say everything is fantastic. Probably in that moment it is what you want to hear, but it’s best to be reminded how to act properly.

It is no longer enough to play very well. You need to be able to give an answer at all times and everywhere. You cannot hide. This has something to do with maturity, and that is something you only acquire over the years.

I am decidedly unfriendly during a golf game, from the first hole to the last.

Every time you are not practicing someone else is.

For sure, with golf it’s not a physically demanding sport like tennis. That’s what makes tennis great – you combine both things. It’s a very mental sport and at the same time can be dramatically physical. But I do admire the mentality of sport more than the physicality because physical performance is much easier to practice than mental performance.

Where do you go when you’re the best in the world? What’s next?

It’s already a great feeling to be third on the list. To get past Borg, I will have to reach the final in Barcelona next week. It won?t be easy. I could lose any day. But if I am 100 per cent I know I have a great chance of winning.

It was a very unbelievable day for me. It’s special to begin the clay season like this. Beating Roger in the final is even more special, it’s great.

I love this game, I love this sport, I love this league. Why don’t I get my own team?

I had the pleasure of competing at the Olympic Games and at Wimbledon and was fortunate enough to win the gold medal in both events,

Outside the manager, John [Terry] and I have probably the closest relationship with Roman. We speak to him sometimes just minutes after a game to discuss how it went and at other times when he wants to gauge our views on specific subjects … Abramovich is also very like Mourinho in his thirst to discover the reasons behind a certain event or result.

In tennis, because of the way it’s scored, I don’t think that scoring one point out of luck is ever decisive in winning. But, of course, it depends on the moment.

I always had the theory that the most important thing is be happy, enjoy what are you doing, and be fresh mentally.

I doubt about myself. I think doubts are good in life. The people who don’t have doubts I think only two things-arrogance or not intelligence.

I was in the tennis bubble. I wasn’t thinking about the big picture. I didn’t notice what they said on television, I wasn’t reading any papers. I had a coach and a manager, and they kept me in the bubble.

I’d rather lose an argument than get into a long discussion in order to win it.

I know my serve stinks, but I was a pretty good tennis player.