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| Rafael Nadal #10: Because he is humble in victory and gracious in defeat!
“I always wanted to be honest with myself and to those who have had faith in me.”
“The only way of finding a solution is to fight back, to move,
to run, and to control that pressure.”
“I am a little bit more famous now, there's some change in my life.
But I live in the same place. I have the same friends.”
“It wasn't the best moment to lose my serve.”
on Federer: “Look at his points. He is the No 1. That is
all there is to say. He is there to be beaten.”
"It's not only in one place, no? I have pain here...
In my famous ass." *press laughs*
"Winning a Grand Slam is very difficult: on grass, on clay ... on ice."
"I feel that we have to think about others. We’re lucky that everything is going so
well for us. We have to do something back for society. We’re lucky that we have a
good life and that we can do something that we like doing. Everything went our
way so we have to help people who are less fortunate."
"I was thinking : if I have to lose the set, lose 6/2, not 6/0, no?!"
"I'm 22. I'm no longer a young player, a young promising
player. I'm not a promising player anymore. Too bad."
Q: When you're fishing (at home in Majorca), what do you fish for?
Rafa: Fish.
“For tennis, the slams are more important. For sportsmen, the Olympics
are more important. I win here for a lot of people, not just for me.” "There are always things to improve, on clay, grass and
everything. It is an error to think that it is impossible to improve." 
"He has this different vibe. He goes from looking downright predatory to all
of a sudden having this big goofy smile. The energy, the passion is just dripping out of him.
When he's playing, it's hard to watch the other side of the court."
- Mary Carillo, Time Magazine
"Federer's game is all about elegance and flow; Nadal disrupts it like a
street thug crashing a cotillion. That he does so while oozing testosterone,
flexing his biceps in a sleeveless shirt, only seals the image of a man's man,
Marlon Brando to Federer's Fred Astaire."
"To see him compete is to witness something extraordinary,
a form of art and craft than, in its visceral qualities, is different —
neither better nor worse — than longstanding number one Roger Federer.
Such is the greatness of tennis that genius can take on many forms.(...)
Watch Nadal practice for 10 minutes and life will never be the same."
- Joel Drucker, Tennis-X.com
"His self-effacement, lack of self-indulgence and sheer joy at the
life he is leading make him a refreshing antidote."
- A. Kervin, The Times
“He beat me when he was just 14-years-old. I consoled myself
thinking that I had lost to a future Grand Slam winner.”
- Pat Cash
"Rafa makes us vibrate, it's a pleasure to see him on court. It's very good for
Spain that someone who is an example to young people has emerged. He's
going to encourage others and there will be more tennis players in future."
- Pau Gasol (Spanish basketball player)
 “For Nadal, a match is war."
- Brad Gilbert
"My kids adore Nadal. He is so very approachable and a true champion at heart. He
played some tennis with them on Mallorca, and since then Nadal is their hero.
When he had to leave Court One one day because of the pouring rain, he actually
stopped and signed autographs for some children in the crowd. He got really wet,
but he didn't care. He realised that these children came out to see him, and as he
only played a few games because of the rain, he thought the least he could do
was stop and sign their programs. As a father, I know what this means to children.
The game of tennis needs new young fans and players, and stars like Nadal
inspire the youngsters."
- Richard Krajicek
"To say that three-time Roland Garros champion
Nadal is a humble guy is an understatement."
- Inside Tennis
“Rafa was a very enthusiastic young kid that loved sport. I have always said
I like the passion in things. I do not like to see people who don’t have a passion for
what they do — this is what Rafa has, ever since he was small, and the intention
was to realize that potential.”
- Toni Nadal
"He seems to be only getting better."
- John McEnroe
"Watching Nadal is like turning on an electric light."
- Santana
"It did not surprise me that he had the mental strength to
gather himself for the fifth, but this was still an incredible
match to win. We have a new king of tennis."
- Boris Becker
"But it's unbelievable how he puts so much pressure
on an opponent. They must think, "What I got to do, hit
three lines to win a point?" We can learn from that and
put it in our tennis."
- Ana Ivanovic
"He makes his brain work more than his legs.
He's the smarter player on the tour. "
- Mats Wilander
"What Nadal has done on clay over the past three years is nothing short of remarkable.
To be as dominant as he has been, winning 100 out of 101 matches! That's one of the greatest achievements in the history of tennis,
and I don't feel like it is recognized to the extent it deserves."
- Pete Sampras
"Actually I walked up to Rafael Nadal. And he is probably
my favourite tennis player to watch and I walked up to him
and I was like, 'I just want to meet you and don't want to
take a picture or anything, I just want to meet you.' And I
told him, 'I watch you all the time when you play tennis and
I love watching you play tennis.' I told him good luck. That
is probably the only person."
- Michael Phelps
"I think that he's probably the cleverest guy on Tour. Of
course he relies on his fitness too, but so does everybody else.
His fitness starts in his heart more than anything.
Of course he's strong, but I'm not sure he's stronger than
anybody else, he just wants it more."
-Mats Wilander
"If he hadn’t competed in the Games as a tennis player but if he had chosen
another sport, there’s no doubt that he would have gone for gold as well.
Nadal is a sportsman through and through
and more and more, he’s becoming a fantastic ambassador for the tennis sport."
- Richard Krajicek
"I followed Rafael Nadal, for example, for six years on the courts
of Roland Garros. I watched him grow via live transmissions,
which Radio France International broadcast each summer,
and at the same time as I shared in the joy of his ever growing success,
I experienced the frustration of not being able to see his victories.
To be here today, seeing him face to face, is like
the closing of a circle; a wonderful way
to fulfil an appointment with life."
- Ingrid Betancourt
"Besides the Packers, my favorite teams are the Red Sox, the Lakers and the Boston Bruins. I also love tennis. I had
a lot of people over to my place to watch the Wimbledon final this year, and we went crazy. I love Federer but
Nadal is my favorite. He's the man. I love his motivation and his heart is big.
He leaves it on the court. And when I found out he still lives with his family despite his success, that was it for
me. That's unbelievable right there. That just goes to show you where his heart is at, how much love he has.
So we were watching that match, and nobody thought he was gonna win. Everybody was telling me how
he hadn't beat Federer on the hard court and he could only do it on clay but I never had any doubts.
I knew his heart was gonna do it for him, and it did."
- Lil Wayne (blogging for ESPN)
"...a multi-surface wonder, the likes of which
we haven’t seen since the days of Bjorn Borg."
- Inside Tennis
In a circuit long renowned for the intensity of its self-centredness,
the man is a real gent.
“Personally I'd hope so because he's a great guy. What he's done, how he
plays on all surfaces, he deserves to be world No.1. There's no doubt that his name should be up there with the greats of the game.''
- Lleyton Hewitt "What he did to (Roger) Federer in the final of Roland Garros, isn't something any other tennis
player in the earth would do. Rafa destroyed Roger at France and later earned the Wimbledon
title, which is far from his favorite surface. I believe that was an extraordinary effort.
Nadal definitely deserves to be #1 in the world."
- Lleyton Hewitt "I'm not as familiar with mental requirements for other sports, but I
can't believe there could be an athlete better (mentally) than Nadal."
- Jarkko Nieminen “He's probably still one of the best players of all time
and he's never been No. 1 in the world.That's incredible, and it shows incredible
heart that he's kept the No.2 ranking for so long. It shows incredible kind of
mental fortitude to keep pushing, keep getting better, keep striving for that No. 1
ranking. He's proven he's, by far, the greatest No. 2 of all time.”
- James Blake
Look, I’m not sure if it’s just his forehand. Let’s say it’s more his movement than
anything else. His forehand and backhand [it] seems are never going to break
down really, especially on clay. I can’t see people talking about his backhand
being a weakness. It’s amazing what kind of pace he can get off the backhand
and how good his slice has become. People underestimate his game entirely.
- Roger Federer “You know, there's so many different ways to assess speed. You got guys that are
tremendously fast, but they only use their speed defensively, then you really don't
care about how fast they are because they're only going to have to run more. You
got other guys that can use their speed offensively, but if you get them on the
defence they can't hurt you on the stretch, so you can take a point over early and
they can be fast but never turn a point around. Nadal has the ability to run as fast
as the best of 'em, but on the stretch actually hurt you. You know, he can
transition those points into offence. That makes you sort of walk on egg shells.
He draws out errors that I think normally you wouldn't make against any other
player, which is a credit to the way he plays the game”
- Andre Agassi “Nadal is marking an epoch. No other player has done what he has done.
It is normal that the rest of us are put a bit on one side. I even think it is good for
us, as that way we try to follow, even just a little, in his footsteps."
- David Ferrer "Rafael Nadal is the one that amazes me most: his determination and
power are unique. I had the opportunity to practise with him when he was
15 years old and he seemed like a real veteran with the power he had. At
some time he will be the number one. Rafa is the Ronaldinho of tennis and
we’re not finished hearing about him"
- Gustavo Kuerten
"It's impossible not to be motivated by him..... He motivates every one of us."
- Tommy Robredo "We feel very proud with having the number one and although it is
impossible to reach his level we will try."
- David Ferrer "Rafa is a great person. Mind, I’m soaping him because I want to win
when I play Playstation with him tonight.”
- Nicolas Almagro We are pretty good friends, we know one another and get on well. I remember that when I lost to Fernando
González in Australia, having had to retire because of cramp in the fifth set, Nadal came over
to me in the locker room. I was shattered, in a very bad way, and
he put his hand on my shoulder and said: "Don't worry about it, the
same thing happened to me two years ago when I was your age."
Things like that fill me with pride and I really value them."
- Juan Martin del Potro in June 2007
" I think Rafael's incredible. Getting to No. 1 in the world, as he will on
Monday, is something I have to commend every single person that's got there.
Because there is no easy way to get there. There's no fluke winning one slam,
winning one tournament to get to No. 1. You have to prove yourself as the best
in the world. With our ranking system, it's over a one-year rolling calendar. So
for the last year, on Monday, he's been the best player in the world. And that's
just a phenomenal feat. So I got to commend him. I'm happy for him. It's been
just about everyone's goal, is to get to No. 1 in the world. Everyone's dream.
I hope it's all he's dreamed of. I hope he stays for as long as he deserves it.
It's tough to say how long it will be 'cause it seemed like when Roger was in the
middle of his, it would never end. But everyone's human. Everyone's bound to
have some bad times, some ups and downs. You never know. There's so many
things that could happen: injuries, illness, lack of confidence, or he could continue
improving. The rate he's improved in the last year, two years, is incredible. If
he keeps that up, then, yeah, his reign can be very long. I'm proud of
him and really happy for him to be No. 1 in the world.
He's deserved it over the last year."
- James Blake "I don't know if you can draw up a tougher scenario than playing Nadal on clay, away, in
front of his fans. Even Roger (Federer) on grass you can serve and the points are a bit
quicker. This is probably the toughest scenario there is. [...] I felt like I hit the ball okay. In my opinion he is the greatest clay-courter of all time,
and I'm not a great clay-courter, and it's tough especially when he comes out
and hits it like he did today."
- Andy Roddick "The only thing I can say is Rafa had an unbelievable year and it was
amazing for me to see him win Wimbledon, that was a big surprise. You have to
give credit to the guy. The last few years he has worked a lot on his game; he's
more aggressive, he's coming more to the net, and if he continues that way it will
be tough for Roger (Federer) to come back to the No. 1 spot."
- Marcos Baghdatis
"Still the same player even if he now wears shorts and tee shirt. And he's
really nice, never gets big-headed, completely adorable."
- Gaël Monfils blogging during AO '09 By the way he acts in the players lounge and the locker room, you can already
see it: he’s a leader, a winner. You don’t even have to stand on the court to see
that. He’s an alert guy, cool, determined, vigorous, respectful. This guy simply
has class. And the way he has played in the previous year was gruelingly good. I
followed the Wimbledon final with my mouth wide open. I could only be
utterly amazed by so much class.
- Tommy Haas (January 23, 2009) 
CALENDAR 10.08.2009 Montreal, ATP World Tour Masters 1000, Outdoor Hard
16.08.2009 Cincinnati, ATP World Tour Masters 1000, Outdoor Hard
31.08.2009 US OPEN - GRAND SLAM Outdoor Hard
28.09.2009 Bangkok, Indoor Hard
05.10.2009 Beijing, Outdoor Hard
12.10.2009 Shanghai, ATP World Tour Masters 1000, Outdoor Hard
08.11.2009 Paris, ATP World Tour Masters 1000, Indoor Hard
22.11.2009 ATP World Tour Finals, Indoor Hard
~
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Last edited by buffy4ever : 06-29-2009 at 12:33 PM.
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