Rafael Nadal

My motivation and aspiration is the same, being number one or being number five. So that’s the truth. And my goal is the same – it’s to always be happy playing, it’s to enjoy the game and improve always.

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

The record of Borg and Vilas? I have thought about it.

I always work with a goal – and the goal is to improve as a player and a person. That, finally, is the most important thing of all.

I normally listen to Spanish music – well, Latin music. I like a lot of singers.

If I am not playing at one hundred percent, it is going to be very difficult for me to win.

Confidence is the most important thing in this sport, and the confidence from winning Wimbledon would make it easier to win the Olympics, too. Either would be very difficult, both even more-but the player who wins Wimbledon will be the favorite for the Olympics. It can happen.

I am just like all the jerks and idiots you know. I am just a guy that watches sports all day.

I just wanted to see how the shorts felt again.

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

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,

That’s the hard part about sport: as men we haven’t started to be in our prime, but as athletes we are old people. I needed support. I lost trust and did stupid things.

All sports are continuously developing, but what they all have in common is that the speed is increasing. That’s also true of tennis; the ball is getting faster and faster.

I don’t really care what the man on the street thinks. I never did anything to please him in the first place, and I’m not going to start now.

I admire a lot of people, but in terms of sport I’ve always loved the mentality of Tiger Woods on a golf course. I always love his eyes when he’s setting himself and focusing on his decision; he has a really strong, focused face and believes that he can make the shot.

Certainly I would like to have some of the qualities of other players and obviously from Roger Federer. But believe me, there are plenty of other abilities that are important, particularly mindset and strength.

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

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.

The only way of finding a solution is to fight back, to move, to run, and to control that pressure.

Hard courts are very negative for the body. I know the sport is a business and creating these courts is easier than clay or grass, but I am 100 per cent sure it is wrong.

I take pleasure in tennis and the hope that it requires.