[shari91]

For those without access to TI and may not have seen them elsewhere, I thought they were interesting. I had posted a few days ago if I had a future bet on him to win the French I'd be quite worried but I guess we'll see. Thanks paulmurphy

Ljubicic on Rafa:

"There is no question that his confidence is shaken. You see him in the locker room. He's saying it. He's not hiding it. He's just not feeling as comfortable as he was feeling last year. And even the matches he's winning, he's not dominating as much as he used to be. But we all know that the more tournament progresses, he's playing better tennis. He's definitely still the man to beat on clay. Obviously Djokovic—if they play the final, I think Novak will be slight favourite. But still, to beat Rafa on clay best of five, only one guy [Robin Soderling] managed to do that in so many years, so there's no question that it's still very, very difficult to beat him."

Ferrer about Rafa after the Angujar match:

"I saw part of Rafa's match and it was weird because he was not really there."
"And that's funny for Rafa. He was not really in the match. Then in the fourth and fifth, he was controlling the match again."
"People say Rafa is no longer the player he used to be. I think he is still an excellent player. But just like anyone, he has moments when he doesn't play that well. He has a lot of pressure. Djokovic has put a lot of pressure on him."

Nadal:

"It's my ninth year on the tour, and its completely the same feeling every year. You don't have the chance to stop, never. I think for that situation we have a shorter career. So having a different model of ranking, of competition, I think we can have longer career, no? I [am] almost 25, but seems like I am playing for 100 years here on the tour. I didn't spend a weekend at home since the week of Davis Cup before Indian Wells. That's too much. Tennis is a very demanding sport mentally and physically. I won Roland Garros five times, but next Monday I am practicing on Queen's. So that's makes the career shorter for everybody."

"We have four Grand Slams, we have nine Masters 1000, and the year is 12 months. I know that they're gonna reduce two week but, seriously, is not enough. [We are not ] gonna have these changes for my generation, but hopefully for the next generations to have a better sports life. Because I think you need two months, two months and a half of rest at the end of the season. You have to practice. I never able to practice and to try to improve the things during the off-season, and that's something I think terrible. Sometimes it's like work. And, in my opinion, tennis is not work. It's passion."

[face]

wow, tennis is relentless year round for him i guess. feeling a little beaten down, can't blame him; advantage djokovic though if his attitude is like this now.

[horja1]

Nadal's words say a lot ... no more joy in playing tennis for him ... while Djokovic is where Nadal was a few years ago ...

[Greekster]

and Fed keeps plugging along at his old age. The guy seems to be enjoying tennis and his family life.

Fed probably has had the same complaints about the schedule as well, but (and this may sound stupid), tennis seems to come easy for him. Nadal seems like he has to work harder at it.