Rafael Nadal

I am afraid of a lot of things. A dog. I could be afraid of a dog that’s upset, for example. And on the tennis courts, maybe on the outside I look fearless, but on the inside, I’m scared. There’s not one player in the world who isn’t nervous before matches. Especially important matches.

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

You fight, you try your best, but if you lose, you don’t have to break five racquets and smash up the locker room. You can do those things, but when you’ve finished, nothing’s changed. You’ve still lost. If something positive came from that, I probably would do it. But I see only negativity.

I was passionate about soccer. I still am. Odd, though – playing soccer always made me much more anxious than playing tennis. On soccer days, I’d be out of bed by 6 in the morning, all nervous. But I was always calm when it was time for a tennis match. I still don’t know why.

I am happy with being a tennis player and the choice I took when I was 12. But clearly, if I wouldnt have been a tennis player, I would have loved to be a soccer player. But again, I am happy with the choice I made.

I feel that love. I feel that energy. I always felt that energy when I’m playing in New York.

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

[Roger Federer] We have a guy from Switzerland who is just playing the game in a way I haven’t seen anyone – and I mean anyone – play before. How fortunate we are to be able to see that. If he stays healthy and motivated – and the wonderful feel he has stays with him – he is the kind of guy who can overtake the greatest.

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

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.

Is more for precaution. You don’t know tomorrow what’s happen, no? But now I am happy because I don’t feel too much pain. But I can finish the match, so that’s a good sign.

If the girls and boys have talent and feel like working on themselves, they can become champions.

I always think about victory. It was very important for me to stay in this final. If I play my best I have a chance (against Federer). I’m going to play aggressively, with determination.

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

More than anything, believe that you can win.

The guy comes up to the plate, there’s always a chance where he can get a grand slam and everybody forgets about all the times he missed.

My uncle developed the training philosophy. His idea of good tennis training is basically quite simple: you must try to gain time.

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

Winning is a way of expressing yourself.

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.

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