There are not many opportunities on tour for Rafa Nadal to indulge his passion for fishing, but golf is another matter. The world No.2 gets out on the golf course whenever he can and catches up with the latest tournaments on television between matches.
 
Nadal beat Radek Stepanek 6-2, 6-2 in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Sunday evening – the Spaniard has lost only six games in his first two matches in Florida – but prepared for the contest by watching on television as Tiger Woods won his first tournament on the PGA tour for two years at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
 
“I play golf because I love sport in general,” Nadal said afterwards. “I love all sports. Golf today is a sport where the risk of injury is very small. I love the game in general. I was watching the last round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational all afternoon.
 
“I am a big fan of sport in general and golf is one of my favourites. Golf is great, because you are always in beautiful places when you are playing. Most important thing at the same time is you can spend three, four hours, four hours and a half with good company, with friends, with family. 

“That’s what makes the round good. You are not playing with people that you don’t know. Family is completely different. Spending time with friends, with family, when I go to play golf, that’s great.”
 
One of the highlights of Nadal’s golfing career was playing 18 holes with Seve Ballesteros in Madrid. Nadal once described Ballesteros, who died last year, as “the most important sportsman in Spain’s history”.