Rafael Nadal

Honesty, willingness to exert oneself, friendship – all these things shaped me too.

I like a lot of sports. Especially football – it’s my favourite sport. My uncle played football in Barcelona for nine years and played for Spain in three World Cups.

Being home alone at night makes me a bit nervous. If I’m at home alone, I have to sleep on the sofa – I can’t face going to bed. I’m there with the TV on and all the lights on. I’m not very brave about anything in life. In tennis, yes. In everything else, not very.

As a tennis player you can win and you can lose, and you have to be ready for both. I practised self-control as a kid. But as you get older they both – winning and losing – get easier.

I love the beach. I love the sea. All my life I live within – in front of the sea.

Tennis is a hard sport. There is a lot of competition all year and you play alone.

I drew my strength from fear. Fear of losing. I don’t remember the games I won, only the games I lost.

Tennis is a hard sport. There is a lot of competition all year and you play alone.

Even if I have already peaked, I have to believe I can improve. I wake up every morning, and go to practice, with the illusion that I’m going to get better that day.

I play each point like my life depends on it.

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.

The eyes of some of the fans at Davis Cup matches scare me. There’s no light in them. Fixed emotions. Blind worship. Horror. It makes me think of what happened to us long ago.

I love the crowds in Miami. I feel that is one of the tournaments where I get more support. That helps me a lot.

The philosophy of FIFA is to expand world soccer space, to spread out the world football space.

It is the small steps which bring you satisfaction at the end of the day.

If you are playing bad you are going to lose here, on clay, on ice, or on the beach.

I am very lucky because when I come back home, I have a completely normal life. I can relax, playing golf, fishing – doing what I want. I know when I finish a tournament, I am going to relax at home.

I have no sense of humor about losing

I always like to do the things that I think are right. I am not trying to be a model, I am trying to be myself and do the right things. If what I am doing is a model, or is an example, is the right example, I am very happy, but I don’t pretend that.

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.

The young athletes are supposed to mature, to improve their personality.