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.
— Rafael Nadal
I'm only superstitious on the tennis court.
I normally listen to Spanish music - well, Latin music. I like a lot of singers.
I have no interest in becoming a tax exile and living somewhere I don't want to - I just want to be at home with my family.
I am lucky because my family are comfortably off. My father has his own glass business.
I'm ambidextrous when I eat. But playing tennis right-handed - I can't do it. I'm clueless.
No one is perfect. Everybody does stupid things.
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.
I appreciate a lot in this life; the things you cannot buy. Life is only once.
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.
I only ever run when there's some point to it - say, if it's in a game of tennis.
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.
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 love the crowds in Miami. I feel that is one of the tournaments where I get more support. That helps me a lot.
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.
To be a friend means that they are always there, for the good or the bad.
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.
I don't have any idols, any heroes, nothing, no.
If the plane moves, some turbulence, I am nervous flyer.
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.
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 am decidedly unfriendly during a golf game, from the first hole to the last.
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.
If you don't lose, you cannot enjoy the victories. So I have to accept both things.
I have lived my whole life with high intensity.
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 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.
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.
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 would love to learn other languages, maybe French? My uncle speaks German so maybe also German? Chinese seems to be too difficult.
I like fishing. Not actual fishing - I like the peace and quiet of being at sea. It's different.
I'd rather lose an argument than get into a long discussion in order to win it.
I live where I would like to live. I live in Majorca, Spain, and I am not sure there are better places.
My serve can get better, for sure. It's not just about serving bombs, but positioning, variation in speed, in spin.
I'm always searching for new music, and I change what I listen to on a regular basis.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
In my humble opinion, change is stupid.
I learned during all my career to enjoy suffering.
My motivation is tomorrow, just one day at a time, right?
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.
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 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 am happy with being a tennis player and the choice I took when I was 12. But clearly, if I wouldn't 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 love the beach. I love the sea. All my life I live within - in front of the sea.
I'm lucky enough to do what I like for work - not everyone's that fortunate.
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.
