Rafael Nadal says he would like to have kids, and measures his success not by titles but by his relationships with other people. In an interview with La Nacion, Nadal spoke of how he approaches things off the court, saying that a sporting career is a limited one.
Despite being one of the most accomplished players in the history of the game, the Spaniard insisted that once he retires, it is his impact as a person that will affect him more."What you have done is very good, but when you go somewhere, you will be treated well from the legacy you have left, and legacy is not titles raised, but the friends I have left on the circuit, how well you behaved with the people of the world," he said. "And I hope that I, over the years, have been caring. I think so, and wherever I go, people appreciate me, both tournament organizers, as the people of the circuit with whom I hope to stay connected."
Nadal, who has a longtime girlfriend, Maria Francesca Perello, also wants a family. He said, "I am quite a family person, my education has been towards family. You never know what will happen in the future, but I understand that I will form a family, have kids, I do not know how much. I love children, but one does not decide unilaterally, it takes two. I would like to have more children, but I cannot say whether two, three or four."
He is one of the world's best-known sportspeople, but said it was not being well-known but well-liked that is important to him, by the public but especially by those he knows.
"Being famous for being famous doesn't give anything," he said. "[It] is nice and satisfying if you earned it for doing well, and not just on court.
"The real success is having friends, having a family, caring for them and feel loved by the people—the public is very important, but what is more feel loved by those who are around you.