‘I Just Want to Play’

For a tennis player who is impressively vocal and aggressive behind the net, hunky Rafael Nadal is surprisingly demure off the court. There is almost a little-boy-lost quality about him. Nadal still lives with his parents and grandparents in a four-story apartment building in Manacor, Spain, where his favorite pastime is fishing.

Can the 20-year-old French Open winner, seeded second this year at Wimbledon, come into his own as a global tennis star? Before a recent afternoon practice, Nadal sat down with NEWSWEEK’s Ginanne Brownell to talk tennis, soccer and those screaming girls. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: Sorry to hear about Spain losing to France 3-1 in the World Cup. Are you bummed?

Rafael Nadal: I was a bit disappointed yesterday. A lot of teams have been having bad luck at the end of their matches.

Who are you going to root for now that Spain is out?

Well, no one. But I do like Brazil and Argentina. I [also like] England, but they have to face Portugal, and that will be difficult. I like them as a team, they have good players but they need to score a bit more. That will make the difference. They are not scoring too much but they do have a good defense.