Rafael Nadal Quotations

I used to wear sleeveless T-shirts all the time on court, but now I've got a brand new look - I've moved on to polo shirts. Sleeveless T-shirts give you real freedom of movement and they keep you cooler in matches, but I just thought it was time for a change.

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.

Why would I want a place of my own? Then I would have to things worry about, like doing laundry and having food in the fridge.

I love the beach. I love the sea. All my life I live within - in front of the sea.

My motivation and aspiration is the same, being number one or being number five. So that's the truth. And my goal is the same - it's to always be happy playing, it's to enjoy the game and improve always.

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.

I like fishing. Not actual fishing - I like the peace and quiet of being at sea. It's different.

If you don't lose, you cannot enjoy the victories. So I have to accept both things.

My motivation is tomorrow, just one day at a time, right?

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.

The glory is being happy. The glory is not winning here or winning there. The glory is enjoying practicing, enjoy every day, enjoying to work hard, trying to be a better player than before.

I appreciate a lot in this life; the things you cannot buy. Life is only once. I am happy being here and all the things that are a risk I normally avoid.

It's not the time to look for excuses.

Being home alone at night makes me a bit nervous. If I'm at home alone, I have to sleep on the sofa - I can't face going to bed. I'm there with the TV on and all the lights on. I'm not very brave about anything in life. In tennis, yes. In everything else, not very.

I admire a lot of people, but in terms of sport I've always loved the mentality of Tiger Woods on a golf course. I always love his eyes when he's setting himself and focusing on his decision; he has a really strong, focused face and believes that he can make the shot.

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

I'd rather lose an argument than get into a long discussion in order to win it.

You just try to play tough and focus point for point. Sounds so boring, but it's the right thing to do out there.

New York is a special place; it's a city that I love.

The thing, when you're down two sets to love, is to stay calm, even though it's hard, because people are freaking out, people are worried for you.

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.

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 have the same bedroom I've always had. It's clean and tidy when I get home, and after two or three days it gets messy and my mother nags me.

I just was in the second round. That's painful, because always is tough to lose, but well, that's sport. You win, you lose.

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.

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.

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

I always work with a goal - and the goal is to improve as a player and a person. That, finally, is the most important thing of all.

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.

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.

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.

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

No one is perfect. Everybody does stupid things.

I am not the most courageous guy in the world outside of the court. Being alone in the dark is something I don't like.

I think I am a complete player. I can play well on all the surfaces. For me, the clay might be easiest, but I am not a specialist on clay.

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 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.

My parents' divorce made an important change in my life. It affected me. After that, when I can't play Wimbledon, it was tough. For one month I was outside the world.

Is only a tennis match. At the end, that's life. There is much more important things.

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

I am very lucky because when I come back home, I have a completely normal life. I can relax, playing golf, fishing - doing what I want. I know when I finish a tournament, I am going to relax at home.

My parents' divorce made an important change in my life. It affected me.

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

I think the tennis is only a game. You can lose. You can win. After that? In life, there are much more important things than tennis.

Even if I have already peaked, I have to believe I can improve. I wake up every morning, and go to practice, with the illusion that I'm going to get better that day.

I have lived my whole life with high intensity.

I will do as I usually do. Tomorrow is going to be a day like any other day.

For me, it is important to win titles and for that I need to work hard, stay healthy and be able to compete. The rest, I always say, it comes.

I always had the theory that the most important thing is be happy, enjoy what are you doing, and be fresh mentally.

I think when you compete every week, when you play under pressure daily, you find your rituals to be 100 percent focused on what you're doing.

I'll never have a tattoo - I just don't like them, and when you're old they can look a disaster. As for piercings, I don't like them on men.

It's hard to say, 'I don't believe in God.' I would love to know if God exists. But it's a very difficult thing for me to believe.

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

I love the crowds in Miami. I feel that is one of the tournaments where I get more support. That helps me a lot.

I don't have any idols, any heroes, nothing, no.

I would love to learn other languages, maybe French? My uncle speaks German so maybe also German? Chinese seems to be too difficult.

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

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 learned during all my career to enjoy suffering.

To be a friend means that they are always there, for the good or the bad.

I always like to do the things that I think are right. I am not trying to be a model, I am trying to be myself and do the right things. If what I am doing is a model, or is an example, is the right example, I am very happy, but I don't pretend that.

I like a lot of sports. Especially football - it's my favourite sport. My uncle played football in Barcelona for nine years and played for Spain in three World Cups.

In Majorca, I can be myself. I go to the supermarket and the cinema, and I am just Rafa. Everyone knows me, and it is no big deal. I can go all day - no photographs.

Some people get very confused about my game. They think it's better if the court is slow, because I have a good defence. But the faster it is, the better for me. My spin is more painful for my opponents, my aggressive game works better.

The family is very important. They make me feel good always because if I won, when I started to be famous, the relationship never changed with my friends and family.

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 have been learning English on the road since I started when I was 15, so it is a slow process but making some progress. Now I think I am much more comfortable with my English. However, it is difficult, still, when I speak about something that is not tennis.

I was shy when I was a kid, I was very shy, but now I think I've improved a lot. I can speak OK with the media and with the people. My English is still bad but I feel a little bit better now than before.

In tennis, because of the way it's scored, I don't think that scoring one point out of luck is ever decisive in winning. But, of course, it depends on the moment.

I am decidedly unfriendly during a golf game, from the first hole to the last.

I tried to find a solution to the problem that I had, tried to find a way to start playing better.

Last four months were great for me, was probably one of the best four months of my career, playing unbelievable in the clay court season.

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

I am lucky because my family are comfortably off. My father has his own glass business.

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

I'm lucky enough to do what I like for work - not everyone's that fortunate.

My tennis is aggressive, though I wouldn't say that it's more physical than technical. I rely more on technique than physique, but being physical is always a help to me.

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

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

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

More than anything, believe that he can win.

I didn't want to lose this match for anything in the world. I think I was playing the ball at my best.

I am young. For me, he is the best ? one of the best in history and the best now.

For sure, I'm going to play less matches because I think it's very difficult to win the same number of matches as last year. Maybe I'm going to play a little bit less, but I like playing tournaments; so if I feel good, I going to play for sure.

For sure I didn't play 100 percent. But he played very good, too.

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.

He was playing with very good rhythm, but I can play with rhythm too if I feel good like today.

He was playing too well in the first set; very aggressive. I could do nothing.

He's playing at a very good level, maybe right now at a top-five level. I think he's going to finish the year in the top 10 if he continues like this. If he plays good on clay, he has a good chance to stay in the top 5.

I think it is unbelievable to win against the best player in the world - perhaps the best in the history of the game. It was also special because I was out of the game for more than three months. I cried because I was happy.

With Almagro, boy, that'll be a tough match. He's playing at a very high level right now and he hits the ball hard.

The record of Borg and Vilas? I have thought about it.

This was the toughest match of my life, ... I want to thank the fans, without whom I would have lost.

This was the best match of my career. It was such a tough match. I'm so happy to have won, it's unbelievable.

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.

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.

This is good for me, to be third in history on clay. One day I'm going to lose. I hope it's not next week (in Barcelona).

It was bad for me because I was leading 4-0 and 0-30 and then I lost that game. But I don't like this - I don't think it is very good for the whole tournament.

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.

It was a very unbelievable day for me.