Rafael Nadal

Every year I go to Broadway to see a musical – I like the music. I saw ‘Mamma Mia;’ I saw ‘Les Miserables;’ I saw ‘Phantom of the Opera’ like six, seven times.

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.

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

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

It should not be a child’s only goal to become the best player in the world. That would be a bad, a harmful attitude.

It’s more a tennis problem than a mental problem. The transition is difficult. It depends how much time you have. Playing on grass can sometimes be a bit of a lottery.

I still take advice from my mum on what clothes look good on me. I used to listen to her a lot more, but I’ve started to choose my own things from time to time.

I go to the gym, I swim daily and from time to time I meet with friends and do extra-curricular stuff.

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

Stay healthy, do sports and above all have fun while doing sport. Competing or just for fun, whatever, simply enjoy and try your best. Working hard, working well with achievable goals normally pays off. Believe in the people that are with you and listen to those who have more experience.

If the plane moves, some turbulence, I am nervous flyer.

I’m not the best player in the history of tennis. I think I’m amongst the best. That’s true. That’s enough for me.

I have lived my whole life with high intensity.

You know, a lot of things changed. What never changed is the illusion to keep playing tennis, the illusion to keep doing well the things, and the illusion to be in a good position of the ranking and play these kind of matches.

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

We should try to teach the young people values that are useful to them whether they become professional athletes or not.

We’ll try and be very aggressive, we’ll try and speed up and change gears, and we’ll see who’s going to win.

It is the small steps which bring you satisfaction at the end of the day.

I’m getting excited before every single game. The trophy at the end is less important than the process itself.

How does one control weight? By not overeating. How does one stay in shape? One plays sports. There are no magic pills here.

Some people may learn something from the way I play tennis. But there are also players who are better than me in certain techniques.