Rafael Nadal

For sure, with golf it’s not a physically demanding sport like tennis. That’s what makes tennis great – you combine both things. It’s a very mental sport and at the same time can be dramatically physical. But I do admire the mentality of sport more than the physicality because physical performance is much easier to practice than mental performance.

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.

It’s not the time to look for excuses.

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

There are many moments during a match when you are tense, wrestling with yourself. Tennis is a lesson in self-control.

I only ever run when there’s some point to it – say, if it’s in a game of tennis.

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.

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

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 am not the most courageous guy in the world outside of the court.

In your career you have a lot of good moments and bad ones. The important thing is to have enough motivation to keep working all the days with humility and trying to be a better player than before. I am going to try to continue doing this.

I’ve stayed calm when I’m winning and I’ve stayed calm when I’ve lost. Tennis is a sport where we have a lot of tournaments every week, so you can’t celebrate a lot when you have big victories, and you cannot get too down when you’re losing, as in a few days you’ll be in the next tournament and you’ll have to be ready with that.

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.

As a tennis player you can win and you can lose, and you have to be ready for both. I practised self-control as a kid. But as you get older they both – winning and losing – get easier.

If somebody says I am better than Roger, I think this person doesn’t know anything about tennis.

There are many moments during a match when you are tense, wrestling with yourself. Tennis is a lesson in self-control.

Tennis has to be very careful.Not everyone is a computer, it is very good we have John McEnroe. I hope we have a couple more.

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

Every time you are not practicing someone else is.

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.

I appreciate a lot in this life; the things you cannot buy. Life is only once.