Rafael Nadal

I would love to learn other languages, maybe French? My uncle speaks German so maybe also German? Chinese seems to be too difficult.

It’s not the time to look for excuses.

It’s important for the young players to practice other ball games as well, basketball or table tennis. On the tennis court, you can improve your eye through a kind of overexertion.

If you want to belong to the best, you need good technique and, perhaps even more importantly, a good eye. If you see the ball sooner, you have more time to think about how and where to return it.

I didn’t play a great match, but once I pass the first two rounds, things get easier. I’m used to the court and the conditions.

I tried to find a solution to the problem that I had, tried to find a way to start playing better.

My feeling would be that you lose something of the beauty of the Premiership by joining something not defined at the moment.

Winning is a way of expressing yourself.

However great your dedication, you never win anything on your own

Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game – and do it by watching some high school or small-town teams.

The boys are so powerful off of the baseline now that they don’t have to come to the net to finish points. That’s the reason we went to the net. To finish the point. Nowadays, even the big guys can hit winners four feet behind the baseline.

I don’t have any idols, any heroes, nothing, no.

I always wanted to be honest with myself and to those who have had faith in me.

The US player Andy Roddick reaches speeds of 220 kilometers per hour when he serves. If I train with him every day, I will later be at an advantage against a player whose service crosses the net at 190 kilometers per hour.

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

Always I believe that I can play better. But I am happy.

I live where I would like to live. I live in Majorca, Spain, and I am not sure there are better places.

Every little kid that steps on the court or the field has aspirations to go pro. I think being a pro basketball player is the best job. The thing I had to realize was that I can’t do every dream that I have.

I have a lot of respect for Liverpool fans and what I did, the sign of silence – ‘shut your mouth’ – was not for them, it was for the English press.

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.