Rafael Nadal

However great your dedication, you never win anything on your own

The problem nowadays is that children have become too much the center of attention. Their parents, their families, everybody around them feels a need to put them on a pedestal. So much effort is invested in boosting their self-esteem that they are made to feel special in and of themselves, without having done anything.

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

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

I have no sense of humor about losing

Enduring means accepting. Accepting things as they are and not as you would wish them to be, and then looking ahead, not behind.

Humility is the recognition of your limitations, and it is from this understanding, and this understanding alone, that the drive comes to work hard at overcoming them.