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" I didn't serve and volley until I got to Wimbledon in '77. "
John McEnroe
Serve
Wimbledon
Volley
Related Quotes:
" Sometimes you get hungrier when you taste it. "
John McEnroe
Sometimes
Hungrier
Get
" If Roger stopped right now and never won another match, to me he'd already be one of the greatest players to ever play the game. To me, he's the greatest all around talent that I've ever seen. "
John McEnroe
Now
Talent
Play
" If, in a few months, I'm only number 8 or number 10 in the world, I'll have to look at what off-the-court work I can do. I will need to do something if I want to be number 1. "
John McEnroe
World
I Can
Look
" I don't really know why I started playing as a kid, but I grew up in Queens, New York, not too far from Forest Hills, where they played the U.S. Open in those days. I even got to be a ball boy there. Also, there was a tennis court just a block away from our house, and I'd hang out down there. "
John McEnroe
House
New York
Boy
" I would put tiebreakers in the fifth set, no question about it. "
John McEnroe
Fifth
About
Put
" The best way I knew how was to give 110% and want it more than them, and walk on the court and every moment of the match feel like it was the end of the world, in a sense. So that worked for me in a lot of ways. There were times that it hurt me, but for the most part, it helped me. "
John McEnroe
End
Best
Hurt
" When I was 25, if you'd have said I was going to be a commentator, that would seem like, 'Oh, my God. That's a huge step down.' "
John McEnroe
Like
You
Step
" Nadal is one of the great champions - a class act. "
John McEnroe
Class
Act
Champions
" You can't give away points and games against someone like Murray. You're not going to make it to the top with that kind of effort. "
John McEnroe
Games
You
Top
" I would not have an event before the majors. I would build them up. It very rarely happens that a player plays the week before, wins the event, and then goes on to win the slam. "
John McEnroe
Event
Build
Win
" When I came on the tour, I thought, 'Why don't they treat tennis players the same way they look at football players?' Because I've got news for you: when they are on the pitch, they are not saying, 'Hello, how are you?' out there. "
John McEnroe
Saying
Treat
Football
" With commentating, I've had a chance to show the humorous side of my personality that I didn't use on the court. It's fun, and I don't take myself too seriously. I have good broadcast teams with me, but I'm not a huge stats guy. I think they post the numbers too quickly, and I'd rather let the match play out a bit first. "
John McEnroe
Fun
Personality
Myself
" Roland Garros is the only one of the four majors that is 15 days, and that is too long. "
John McEnroe
Days
Only
Four
" The best thing I ever did was when I was offered a million dollars to go play in South Africa and didn't take it. I was 21 years old, and part of it was like, 'Well, if they're offering me this obscene amount of money just to play one match, there must be something really wrong.' "
John McEnroe
Africa
Money
Best
" One of the things I respected about Connors was that one second he would be spewing a four-letter word, the next second he would do something that had people falling off the aisles. Yet he never seemed to lose his concentration. "
John McEnroe
Off
Lose
Word
" No one cares about the Davis Cup. How many people know I won five Davis Cups and seven majors, but that I rarely played the Australian Open? "
John McEnroe
Open
People
Know
" I've seen tennis clubs close in Manhattan and garages put up in their place, and I'd sure like to be part of reversing that trend. "
John McEnroe
Seen
Up
Trend
" It seems like the richer you are, the more chance you have of paying less tax. "
John McEnroe
Seems
Chance
Tax
" Things slow down, the ball seems a lot bigger and you feel like you have more time. Everything computes - you have options, but you always take the right one. "
John McEnroe
Feel
Slow
Time
" We should reach out to people to try to go after the fans the way other sports do. Because we can't just depend on the fact that it is a great game. "
John McEnroe
Great
Try
People
" I had a similar year back in 1984 when I felt like I couldn't lose. "
John McEnroe
Back
Year
Similar
" I had a harsh lesson in 1996, when I lost four times to Andres Gomez on clay. "
John McEnroe
Had
Clay
Four
" I did a terrible job of composing myself. I was a spoiled brat from Long Island who benefitted from the energy of New York. "
John McEnroe
Long
New York
New
" I don't think enough players channel the energy of the crowd. If it's done properly, and you don't let anger overwhelm and distract you, it's like a shot of adrenaline in the arm, and it gets the crowd pumped up. "
John McEnroe
Enough
You
Energy
" I think it's the mark of a great player to be confident in tough situations. "
John McEnroe
Great
Tough
Confident
" In general, people are administered drugs too readily. "
John McEnroe
Too
General
People
" I can't advocate people not liking each other. But... I'd prefer it. "
John McEnroe
Other
Advocate
People
" I don't take myself as seriously as I did when I was playing, and it works, and I think people see the self-deprecation in my commentary. "
John McEnroe
Seriously
People
See
" You look at a guy like Michael Jordan: I can't believe there will be other basketball players like him. "
John McEnroe
Basketball
Believe
Guy
" There was a line call that didn't look so great. I went ballistic. Called the umpire a jerk. Whacked a ball into the stands. Then smacked a soda can with my racket, and got soda all over the King of Sweden, who was sitting in the front row. "
John McEnroe
Look
Great
Sitting