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've backpacked to countries like Italy and Turkey and observed beautiful scenery, but then I realized that beauty was always very close to me. It is here in Belitung Island, where the rivers, beaches and the terrain captivate my attention most.
All those lessons that I've learned on the court, I have applied them to my life outside of the court in business, my company, called V Starr interiors, an interior design company, and EleVen, which I wear on court.
If I make a change to a young kid to play any sport, not only tennis, instead of spending time in front of the TV or computer, that is good. I want to give them a good example: 'Hey, go out and play and see the world.'
People think that there is so much money in tennis, but the reality is unless you're ranked in about the top 50 you don't earn much at all. It is hard to support yourself travelling the world, to be away from home most of the year and to pay for a co...
My dad said if you become a tennis professional just make sure you get into the top hundred, because you have to make a little bit of money. You make a living so you can pay your coaching and, you know, your travels.
The great champions were always vicious competitors. You never lose respect for a man who is a vicious competitor, and you never hate a man you respect. I don't like Rod Laver because he's such a vicious competitor, but I don't dislike him.
I've been pretty good about keeping my nose to the grindstone. I feel like I won a lot of matches from hard work and persistence, even maybe when I had better options as far as shot-making.
I play tennis five hours a week, from Monday to Friday, for one hour every day. I like to be fit. If I can't exercise, I feel bad - I need to sweat and run to feel like I'm in good shape.
I don't know, I always get the question 'how do you feel after the game today?' and, of course, if you're winning you feel great and if you lose you don't feel good. I think that's a pretty obvious question.
I never had goals to be in the top 10 or top five in the world. I just try to find the borders, find what level I can reach. I have a good team around me, so hopefully it's going to get even better.
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.
I'm telling you, it's so exciting playing out there because I'm playing well, you have the crowd behind you, and it's such a good feeling. I'm really having a good time out there.
Since a month, two months ago, you know, I've started hitting the ball well. I'm playing some really good tennis. That really helps. I sort of have to motivate myself to get pumped up. It really helps my game a lot.
Ten percent of the big fish still remain. There are still some blue whales. There are still some krill in Antarctica. There are a few oysters in Chesapeake Bay. Half the coral reefs are still in pretty good shape, a jeweled belt around the middle of ...
I just wear jeans, big motorcycle boots and T-shirts that are way too big for me. I like anything that has lived a little bit, that has traces of life on it. Knitwear that's a tiny bit too long because you've pulled it with your hands, or jeans that ...
Let me say that the path I did take for a brief period of my life was not of reckless drug use, hurting others, but it was a path of quiet rebellion, of a little experimentation of a darker side of my confusion in a confusing world, lost in the midst...
I've worked hard my whole life, since I was a little kid. But now it's a point in my life now where I can just enjoy it, but at the same time I still need to work.
But to be fair, if you take players from my era to now, the game has changed and the players have many more shots. They use them differently than we did. The speed of the game has changed.
Olympic gold is obviously right up there with a grand slam. It's a big win. You can say it's more, you can say it's less, you can say it's equal. It's very much up there.
I haven't seen a professional player come out of New York in over 20 years since my brother Patrick came out. Blake spent a few years in Harlem, but he moved to Connecticut when he was a kid.
