Rafael Nadal

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

My serve can get better, for sure. It’s not just about serving bombs, but positioning, variation in speed, in spin.

I have lived my whole life with high intensity.

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.

I just try to win the match by fighting for every point, and running down every ball.

I’m always searching for new music, and I change what I listen to on a regular basis.

I’m not a God, I make mistakes.

Playing well or playing bad, I have to play aggressive. I must play aggressive.

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

I cannot win this year but I can play good on grass

People who know me said I will win one or two Premierships and will not be interested after that. The reality is that we’ve won two Premierships but I’m more excited about this particular season than last year or the year before. I am a fan of special nature. I’m getting excited before every single game. The trophy at the end is less important than the process itself.

It’s important to have people around you with enough confidence to say if you are not acting in a good way. Normally, when you are at the top, people say everything is fantastic. Probably in that moment it is what you want to hear, but it’s best to be reminded how to act properly.

Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to do sports for a living. In the beginning, I played a lot of soccer, but in the end I chose tennis. I love sports in general … But tennis is my passion.

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.

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.

Every girl has her own character, every boy his own mind.

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.

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

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

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