​Mastermind Rafa "uses the Force" at The Australian Open

At the Australian Open on Super Saturday, Rafael Nadal held the next generation at bay, shutting the door on exciting young German prospect Sascha Zverev, 19, in a marathon match which lasted over four hours inside Rod Laver Arena.

On paper, Nadal fought back from a two-sets-to-one deficit to claim a stirring victory 4-6 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 6-2, but it was about much more than that.

In essence, Zverev – the Padawan – eventually tired and the Jedi Master rose to exert his control. Rafa taught the wildly-talented apprentice a lesson in persistence and will, in playing each point on its merit, and in maintaining a laser-like focus on the moment at hand – not concerning oneself with the score, the internal or external environment, what has happened and what might occur.

Thirty-year-old Rafa has taken the game to a new level in his transcendent ability to stay focused, and while the 14-time Grand Slam champion is slowing down slightly – "pain-free was a long time ago," he smiled quietly after the first round in Melbourne – his mind is as sharp as ever.

Nadal's mental approach to tennis is to remain present and fully aware, allowing his mind to be flexible, to navigate moment-to-moment situations, create and problem solve. He lets things be as they are. He understands that life is a constantly changing landscape. In Yoda speak, The Force is with him.

Rafa showing off his Jedi ball-melting trick. — Rain Delays Play (@raindelaysplay)January 15, 2017

Listening to his press conferences is a little like hearing from Yoda, and his quotes from the trenches of tennis warfare echo eerily as lessons for life.

With all that 'in mind', here's the top dozen quotes from Rafael Nadal's press conferences in dispatches from the first week at Melbourne Park in 2017. Here's hoping there plenty more to come from the Jedi Master before the tournament concludes.

"Most important thing is to have good human persons around you, and I have."

"Everything can happen. And has happened."

"I am happy with everything more or less, no?"

"Things happen. You cannot predict the things."

"Things really don't worry me because I don't think about them."

"I am here. I am enjoying."

"If I am here is because I believe."

"You don't need to think much about the things that are happening."

"I don't think about how easy or how tough. Just try my best."

"I am not a person that think much about what happened or what didn't happen or what could happen. I happy about the things that happened."

"I enjoy the moment. That's what I do. What happened happened. Important thing is what can come."

"I feel myself happen. That's the real thing."