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" 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
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" I was a different kind of player as a kid and didn't do too much shouting and screaming. If things didn't go my way, I tended to get a bit overwhelmed. All I wanted to do was cry on my mom's shoulder. I didn't know how to handle defeat in front of a crowd, and I didn't want to be the loser. "
John McEnroe
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" I'm sure a lot of players say it, but winning is almost so you don't lose. The thrill of winning is not as great as the pain of losing. "
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" Sitting there clapping and smiling... it's difficult. You're like, 'Don't worry about it, you just double faulted, you just played a really dumb point. Keep positive.' Then more clapping. That would annoy me as a player. "
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Dumb
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You
" But these guys learn so fast now, they sort of soak up the information, they're fearless. Those are the guys who learn from their mistakes and come back strong the next time. "
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Time
Strong
Mistakes
" They should be required to be in less events; there should be less events for the women. It seems it takes an actual meltdown on the court or women quitting the game altogether before they realize there's a need to change the schedule. "
John McEnroe
Change
Game
Need
" Sometimes you get hungrier when you taste it. "
John McEnroe
Sometimes
Hungrier
Get
" I would put tiebreakers in the fifth set, no question about it. "
John McEnroe
Fifth
About
Put
" I can't advocate people not liking each other. But... I'd prefer it. "
John McEnroe
Other
Advocate
People
" They would go back and listen to my matches, and two days later, I'd be fined. Because no one heard it while it was being played, but they heard it on some mic behind the court. Is that the way it should be? I don't think so. "
John McEnroe
Back
Way
Think
" I had a similar year back in 1984 when I felt like I couldn't lose. "
John McEnroe
Back
Year
Similar
" Nick Kyrgios, if you don't want to be a professional tennis player, do something else. "
John McEnroe
You
Want
Tennis
" As I got older and started moving up the ranking, the matches got more important, and my emotions ratcheted up. I guess I hid my real feelings behind the anger. "
John McEnroe
Feelings
Real
Anger
" I've never seen a good tennis movie. They all were terrible. "
John McEnroe
Seen
Never
Tennis
" 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
" You have to keep persevering. An actor goes to a lot of auditions and doesn't get the part. "
John McEnroe
Goes
Get
Auditions
" I was a Yankee fan until 1981. That was the year the Yankees were two up on the Dodgers and lost four straight. And George Steinbrenner apologized to the city. "
John McEnroe
Year
Lost
Two
" What made my matches against Borg and Connors interesting was, comparing it to boxing, it was like a puncher and a counter-puncher. "
John McEnroe
Interesting
Like
Boxing
" The mistake, if I made one, in the late 1980s, was thinking I needed to change my game. "
John McEnroe
Late
Change
Game
" I'm generally happy, although my kids and wife may sometimes argue with that. "
John McEnroe
May
Argue
Happy
" I can't speak for other people, but I still hate losing. When I did lose, I found it easier to yell than to cry. Guys aren't supposed to cry, are they? "
John McEnroe
Cry
Hate
Lose
" It seems like the richer you are, the more chance you have of paying less tax. "
John McEnroe
Seems
Chance
Tax
" 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
" 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
" 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
" I went on safari in South Africa just after apartheid had ended. "
John McEnroe
South Africa
Just
Apartheid
" I used to get two racquets a year. As you can imagine, they didn't last me too long. "
John McEnroe
You
Long
Me
" Do you have any problems, other than that you're unemployed, a moron, and a dork? "
John McEnroe
Problems
Than
You
" The only thing 'championship' about Wimbledon is its prestige. "
John McEnroe
Only
Prestige
About
" Kyrgios has got to look in the mirror if he wants to become a top player and win Grand Slams. "
John McEnroe
Top
Look
Got
" If you watch a guy go out on court and have a meltdown, you're not going to think, 'Oh my God, now I'm screwed.' Or you're not going to think, 'The umpire's going to give him calls because he's just told him he's an idiot or the pits of the world.' "
John McEnroe
World
Watch
Think