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" 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
Desire
Champion
You
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" 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
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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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" Jack Nicholson didn't get anything until he was in his thirties. You have to persevere and put yourself in positions, and sooner or later, you will break through. "
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" 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. "
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" This taught me a lesson, but I'm not quite sure what it is. "
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Sure
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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. "
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Loser
Too Much
Cry
" It's ironic - people used to want to suspend me and talk about how bad my behaviour was, but now they like it when I shout and scream. "
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Bad
People
Talk
" 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
" 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
" 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. "
John McEnroe
Want
You
Awesome
" 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
Like
" I am someone who gets pretty worked up. "
John McEnroe
Up
Who
Am
" 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
" 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. "
John McEnroe
Bike
You
Lift
" If you look at the top 100 players, you would see that the great majority of them have had at least a couple of surgeries. That tells me that we have to protect the players. "
John McEnroe
Great
Look
You
" Sometimes you get hungrier when you taste it. "
John McEnroe
Sometimes
Hungrier
Get
" I'll let the racket do the talking. "
John McEnroe
Talking
Racket
Sports
" 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. "
John McEnroe
City
Think
New York
" It's only human nature to want to know what you can do on your own or with someone else. "
John McEnroe
Someone
You
Human Nature
" What I think is frustrating for Americans is that it feels like more was going to change with Obama. "
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Think
Like
Going
" I thought if I looked back and evaluated my life, it would help me in the future. "
John McEnroe
Life
My Life
Thought
" I'm a tell-it-like-it-is kind of person; I don't like being misled or someone not telling the truth. That upsets me. "
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Like
Someone
Me
" I can tell you from experience that when you get that pent-up and crazed, it can be distracting. "
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Experience
Get
I Can
" I think it's the mark of a great player to be confident in tough situations. "
John McEnroe
Great
Tough
Confident
" 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. "
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Seen
Up
Trend
" 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. "
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World
I Can
Look
" I would put tiebreakers in the fifth set, no question about it. "
John McEnroe
Fifth
About
Put
" I'm generally happy, although my kids and wife may sometimes argue with that. "
John McEnroe
May
Argue
Happy
" Nadal is one of the great champions - a class act. "
John McEnroe
Class
Act
Champions
" Nadal and Roger Federer have great respect for each other. I think Novak Djokovic gets under those two guys' skin a little bit, and maybe they don't want to admit it, and I think that's, in a way, healthy. "
John McEnroe
Great
Healthy
Respect