Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" 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. "

Related Quotes:

" 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 haven't seen a professional player come out of New York in over 20 years since my brother Patrick came out. Blake spent a few years in Harlem, but he moved to Connecticut when he was a kid. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I always got along with Borg, who was my greatest rival. People like to see me and Connors, me and Lendl, go at it. We didn't like each other. "

John McEnroe

See

Always

" 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. "

" The sting of losing is bad. "

" 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. "

" I'm generally happy, although my kids and wife may sometimes argue with that. "

" 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. "

" 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.' "

" I am someone who gets pretty worked up. "

John McEnroe

Who

" 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. "

" I think it's the mark of a great player to be confident in tough situations. "

" 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. "

" Nadal is one of the great champions - a class act. "

" 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.' "

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

John McEnroe

Think

Going

" What I've realised is that you can run miles, jump on a bike, lift weights, and all that other garbage, but the bottom line is that you get in tennis shape by playing tennis. You build the right muscles, and I don't believe people can do it as successfully any other way. "

" Believe it or not, I was a pretty shy youngster growing up. "

John McEnroe

Growing

Shy

" I think the players, I put in the book for example that we should go back to wood rackets, probably they laughed at me, I'm a dinosaur, but I think that you see these great players, have even more variety and you see more strategy, there'd be more subtlety. "

" The good part of having six kids is, there's always one who wants to hug you and say, 'Daddy, I love you.' "

" 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. "

" I'm going to vote for Obama. I'm going for the change. "

" I thought doubles was a good way for me to practice and get some reps in - I didn't like to train in the gym as much as players these days. "

John McEnroe

Good

Thought

" 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

Boxing

" 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. "

" Do you have any problems, other than that you're unemployed, a moron, and a dork? "

" 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? "

" Nick Kyrgios, if you don't want to be a professional tennis player, do something else. "