Rafael Nadal

I started to travel like this at the age of 15 so for me, it’s normal. Some days you get tired and you feel, ‘I want to stay at home a little bit more,’ but it’s only the moment.

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

I am not the most courageous guy in the world outside of the court. Being alone in the dark is something I don’t like.

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

Tennis is beautiful when you can see tactics, when players don’t just react but are able to act and think.

I think I am a complete player. I can play well on all the surfaces. For me, the clay might be easiest, but I am not a specialist on clay.

The worst thing is to play too defensively. I need to play with more intensity and be aggressive. If I do that, I’m going to do well because my touch is good.

I am not the most courageous guy in the world outside of the court.

I haven’t lost a war. No one got killed. I just lost a tennis match.

You learn their honesty, you learn their competitiveness. You learn a lot about a person. It’s not that they have to sink the putt and there’s a great deal of talent involved – but you do learn about how competitive a person is on the golf course, and frankly, how honest.

If you don’t lose, you cannot enjoy the victories. So I have to accept both things.

I am No. 8 in the world. I am not No. 100.

Winning is a way of expressing yourself.

I play each point like my life depends on it.

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.

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.

When one gets beaten by somebody better, one has to know how to lose with humility. Sure, I could have served better. Sure, I could have hit my forehand harder. But the truth was this was like an avalanche, and there was no way to stop it.

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.

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

I go to my favourite tournament, I talk about my favourite sport and it’s just a great month of parading.

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.