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" It's one thing if you live in London and you're rooting for Chelsea or you're in New York and you love the Giants or Jets and no matter who's on the team you're into it. It's different in tennis; you're sort of your own guy, so you have to reach out and grab a person in a different way. "

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" I'd like to be the commissioner of tennis, but do I want to get into politics? Sometimes I have delusions of grandeur that that would be an interesting, good thing. I'm talking about actual politics, like being a congressman, but then I see how unbelievably nasty it really is, and maybe I'm not quite knowledgeable enough to actually do it. "

John McEnroe

Interesting

Enough

Politics

" I got a lot of publicity, but it steamrolled. Event organizers weren't used to that kind of behavior, so later, they tightened the rules. "

" I didn't serve and volley until I got to Wimbledon in '77. "

" I am finicky about making sure my sneakers are pretty tight. It is almost like a superstition for me. "

John McEnroe

Almost

I Am

" I just remember watching Federer the first year he won Wimbledon. He was struggling with his back problem. I remember it vividly. It looked like there was a chance he was not going to finish. He had that look in his eye. Then, somehow, he found the wherewithal to dig a little deeper, and suddenly he wins the thing, and he's a different player. "

" I can barely remember what I was like 36 years ago when I was 21 years old. "

John McEnroe

Years

Remember

" If you really want to get it more exciting, no linesmen. And have the players call their lines. That would make the game more exciting, I promise you. It would be awesome. "

" This taught me a lesson, but I'm not quite sure what it is. "

John McEnroe

Sure

Quite

" When I walk out there on court, I become a maniac... Something comes over me, man. "

" If people do things without thinking them through, that rubs me up the wrong way. "

" Maybe I should have played two more Australians and two less Davis Cups? I could have had more majors and still have three Davis Cups when most people don't have one. "

" What I think is frustrating for Americans is that it feels like more was going to change with Obama. "

John McEnroe

Think

Going

" I went to play in Brazil when I had just turned 18 and was the world's top junior player. I got to the airport, and no one knew who I was. I couldn't speak any Portuguese, and no one spoke English. Then someone said something that resembled 'tennis,' and I went with that. "

" When I was eight and a half, my parents moved to a part of Queens where there was a club nearby. We joined, and if you believe in someone up above, I think I was meant to play tennis. "

" 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. "

" London is great, but New York is the greatest city in the world. "

" 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. "

" You hit a wall at some stage when you don't want it so bad, but you don't know when that's going to be - as far as competition or as far as health is concerned. Sometimes it's just natural. You just taste it, and you want it so bad that you find other gears. "

" 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. "

" 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.' "

" I would have thought that a woman would have become president before a black man. "

" I went on safari in South Africa just after apartheid had ended. "

" Well I think that's probably one of a few, where I grew up in the City of New York, it's got a lot of energy, my parents are Irish-American so there was a bit of yelling going on in my house but it seemed normal. "

" I can tell you from experience that when you get that pent-up and crazed, it can be distracting. "

" 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.' "

" The older I get, the better I used to be. "

" The perception is I didn't get along with umpires, obviously, and I didn't, on the court. But off the court, we had a good vibe. "

" 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. "

" I like to be close to water and the ocean, particularly. I love to get out and body surf. I like mountain biking, too. "

John McEnroe

Mountain

Love

" Everybody loves success, but they hate successful people. "