Rafael Nadal

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 cannot win this year but I can play good on grass

I have no sense of humor about losing

It’s already a great feeling to be third on the list. To get past Borg, I will have to reach the final in Barcelona next week. It won?t be easy. I could lose any day. But if I am 100 per cent I know I have a great chance of winning.

No one is perfect. Everybody does stupid things.

I’m ambidextrous when I eat. But playing tennis right-handed – I can’t do it. I’m clueless.

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

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.

The philosophy of FIFA is to expand world soccer space, to spread out the world football space.

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

I am a guy who likes to do what I am doing with passion, whether it’s a soccer match with friends or golf.

Tennis is a psychological sport, you have to keep a clear head. That is why I stopped playing.

Girls had never been important. I’d had a girlfriend or two and had liked them a lot but it wasn’t love, because my first love was tennis.

My goal is to improve my game, stay healthy and be competitive. If I have that, I know I can be able to win tournaments, which in the end is what it counts.

It was a very unbelievable day for me. It’s special to begin the clay season like this. Beating Roger in the final is even more special, it’s great.

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

The only thing I had on my mind was tennis, and sometimes girls,… My life was all about tennis. My office was the whole world. The word home didn’t really exist.

The worst thing is to play too defensively. I need to play with more intensity and be aggressive. If I do that, I’m going to do well because my touch is good.

[on Roman Abramovich] We were never friends – José Mourinho

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

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.