Tennis Quotes
This collection of (serious) quotes is from the sport of tennis. See also the Funny Tennis Quotes
"I play each point like my life depends on it." ~ Rafael Nadal
"If you can react the same way to winning and losing, that's a big accomplishment. That quality is important because it stays with you the rest of your life, and there's going to be a life after tennis that's a lot longer than your tennis life." ~ Chris Evert
"My game is a lot about footwork. If I move well - I play well." ~ Roger Federer
"Tennis is a perfect combination of violent action taking place in an atmosphere of total tranquillity." ~ Billie Jean King.
"What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose." ~ Andre Agassi
A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning. ~ Billie Jean King.
As soon as I step on the court I just try to play tennis and don't find excuses. You know, I just lost because I lost, not because my arm was sore. - Goran Ivanisevic
Before I was the hunter. Now I'm the hunted. ~ Martina Hingis
Champions keep playing until they get it right. ~ Billie Jean King
Ever since that day when I was 11 years old, and I wasn't allowed in a photo because I wasn't wearing a tennis skirt, I knew that I wanted to change the sport. - Billie Jean King
Golfers are forever working on mechanics. My tennis swing hasn't changed in 10 years. ~ Pete Sampras
He's the most gifted player that I've ever seen in my life. I've seen a lot of people play. I've seen the Lavers, I played against some of the great players-the Samprases, Beckers, Connors, Borgs, you name it. This guy could be the greatest of all time. That, to me, says it all. He's probably the greatest player that ever lived. He can beat half the guys with his eyes closed! ~ John McEnroe, on Roger Federer.
I hate to lose more than I love to win. ~ Jimmy Connors
I have always considered tennis as a combat in an arena between two gladiators who have their rackets and their courage as their weapons. - Yannick Noah
I let my racket do the talking. That's what I am all about, really. I just go out and win tennis matches. ~ Pete Sampras
I play each point like my life depends on it. ~ Rafael Nadal
If you can react the same way to winning and losing, that's a big accomplishment. That quality is important because it stays with you the rest of your life, and there's going to be a life after tennis that's a lot longer than your tennis life. ~ Chris Evert
It's difficult for most people to imagine the creative process in tennis. Seemingly it's just an athletic matter of hitting the ball consistently well within the boundaries of the court. That analysis is just as specious as thinking that the difficulty in portraying King Lear on stage is learning all the lines. ~ Virginia Wade
It's one-on-one out there, man. There ain't no hiding. I can't pass the ball ~ Pete Sampras
Love is nothing in tennis, but in life it's everything. ~ Author Unknown
My motto is: I'm alive, so that means I can do anything. ~ Venus Williams, July 4 2005 after overcoming Lindsey Davenport 4-6, 7-6, 9-7.
One day you can be a kid, but another day you have to be like this is your job, you play tennis. You have to work for that. ~ Martina Hingis
She's as mean as a snake. She reminds me of me. ~ Martina Hingis, On Maria Sharapova.
Speed in tennis is a strange mixture of intuition, guesswork, footwork and hair-trigger reflexes. Many of the players famed for quickness on court would finish dead last in a field of schoolgirls in a race over any distance more than ten yards. ~ Eugene Scott
Tennis begins with love. ~ Author Unknown
Tennis belongs to the individualistic past - a hero, or at most a pair of friends or lovers, against the world. ~ Jacques Barzun
Tennis can be a grind and there's always the danger of going stale if you think about it too much. You can get embittered if you train too hard and have nothing else on your mind. You have to be able to relax between matches and between tournaments. ~ Maureen Connolly
Tennis is an addiction that once it has truly hooked a man will not let him go. ~ Russell Lynes
Tennis is more than just a sport. It's an art, like the ballet. Or like a performance in the theater. When I step on the court I feel like Anna Pavlova. Or like Adelina Patti. Or even like Sarah Bernhardt. I see the footlights in front of me. I hear the whisperings of the audience. I feel an icy shudder. Win or die! Now or never! It's the crisis of my life. ~ Bill Tilden
If I win, it's a bonus. If I lose, the sun still comes up the next day, and it's all good. ~ Ashleigh Barty
I just want to be the best I can and create my own style of game ~ Ashleigh Barty
Every single match, win, lose or draw, there's something that we can improve on, and it's about us addressing that straight after the match ~ Ashleigh Barty
"There are a lot of hours and a lot of sacrifices you have to make to achieve your dreams" ~ Ashleigh Barty
Tennis is not a gentle game. Psychologically, it is vicious. That people are only just beginning to come to terms with this fact illustrates just how big a con trick has been perpetrated on the non-playing tennis public - and even a few players, usually losing players - for decades. - Richard Evans
Tennis was never work for me, tennis was fun. And the tougher the battle and the longer the match, the more fun I had. - Jimmy Connors
The fifth set is not about tennis, it's about nerves. -Boris Becker
The mark of great sportsmen is not how good they are at their best, but how good they are at their worst. ~ Martina Navratilova
The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else. ~ Martina Navratilova
Victory is fleeting. Losing is forever. ~ Billie Jean King
We get criticized for showing no personality, and then we get penalized when we do. ~ Lindsey Davenport, World number 1.
What a polite game tennis is. The chief word in it seems to be "sorry" and admiration of each other's play crosses the net as frequently as the ball. ~ James Matthew Barrie
What is the single most important quality in a tennis champion? I would have to say desire, staying in there and winning matches when you are not playing that well. - John McEnroe
What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose. ~ Andre Agassi
When you lose a couple of times, it makes you realize how difficult it is to win. ~ Steffi Graf
Whoever said, "It's not whether you win or lose that counts," probably lost. ~ Martina Navratilova
You cannot be serious! ~ John McEnroe, His famous catchphrase directed towards an umpire during a match at Wimbledon in 1981.
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