FUNNY SPORTS QUOTES \ Source: swimpsychology.com

 

  SWIMMING QUOTES:

"In training everyone focuses on 90% physical and 10% mental, but in the races its 90% mental because there's very little that separates us physically at the elite level".
Elka Graham

"People ask me 'what was going through your mind in the race?' and I don't know. I try and ...let my body do what it knows".
Ian Thorpe

"I wouldn't say anything is impossible. I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and put the work and time into it".
Michael Phelps

"I have been visualizing myself every night for the past four years standing on the podium having the gold placed around my neck."
Megan Quann

"I concentrate on preparing to swim my race and let the other swimmers think about me, not me about them." Amanda Beard

"Before the (Olympic) trials I was doing a lot of relaxing exercises and visualization. And I think that that helped me to get a feel of what it was gonna be like when I got there. I knew that I had done everything that I could to get ready for that meet, both physically and mentally".
Michael Phelps

"Any time you can get up there and scare a few people, throw up some decent times, it builds up your confidence and also sends a message to other people."
Olympic silver medallist Marianne Limpert

 

"There is water in every lane, so it is OK."
Ian Thorpe (on being in Lane 5 for a final).

"I always have on my headphones to block out all of the other distractions and I'm just focused on doing the best that I can.... There a few of them … DMX Party Up ... Mack 10 BC and Ice Cube Connected for Life. I also listen to the Eminem CD …whichever song really gets me going that night".
Michael Phelps

"Susie had no talent whatsoever. She's a little person who couldn't even make a final at a state meet - coming and showing the world that on sheer guts and determination you can do anything you want!"
Susie Maroney's coach Dick Caine after her 200 kilometre marathon swim from Mexico to Cuba

"You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get".
Michael Phelps

"I swam the race like I trained to swim it. It is not mathematical. I just let my body do it. It is a lot easier if you let your body do what it is trained for."
Ian Thorpe

=====================================

Swimming   ( Source:  forums.quoteland.com )

 

"My mom said she learned how to swim. Someone took her out in the lake and threw her off the boat. That's how she learned how to swim. I said, 'Mom, they weren't trying to teach you how to swim.' "
--Paula Poundstone

 

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FUNNY SPORTS QUOTES \ Source: aol.wnba.com

 

WNBA Notes and Quotes: July 9-15, 2007

 

Houston's Tina Thompson is the only 2007 All-Star who played in the 1997 inaugural season.

"I'm about to shed tears because I'm a defensive coach. For our defense to be incomplete and incompetent is obviously a reflection on me."
• L.A. Sparks coach Michael Cooper reacts to his team's defense during Tuesday night's 82-47 loss to the Seattle Storm, to All Headline News.

"It was very tough. Again it felt like we had a great chance to win the game and we let it slip. Coming off a loss against New York we had two great days of practice so we felt like we were ready. We made some mistakes that we usually don't make. We turned the ball over in the first half. The second half we could not contain (Lindsay) Whalen . Those are things that are our defense, something that we are very proud of. Today we just weren't there."
• Sacramento's Ticha Penicheiro reflects on Thursday's disappointing 83-78 overtime loss to the Monarchs.

"We just have to keep playing hard and stay focused. We don't want to get too high up but we want to keep that positive energy that we're playing with right now and then I think everything will be okay."
• Lindsey Whalen on Connecticut's three game win streak.

"Janel is more aggressive underneath and has more of an outside game than Davenport (Jessica)."
• Indiana's Tan White on New York Center Janel McCarville after Indiana defeated New York on Thursday 79-63. McCarville had a team high 13 points and 6 rebounds.

"It is extremely upsetting to see my first season in the WNBA end this way… I would definitely like to thank all of the Lynx fans for all of their support. One thing you can count on from me is that I will work as hard as I can to rehab my knee, and I will definitely be back next season better than ever."
• Minnesota rookie Lindsey Harding discusses her season-ending knee injury.

"I don't think in an interview I've ever used the word 'legacy.' It's not something I ever thought about until now because now I'm in my last days. Not because I can't physically play the game, because I can."
• Houston's Tina Thompson reflects on her career, as she is the only 2007 All-Star who played in the 1997 inaugural season, to USA TODAY.

 

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FUNNY SPORTS QUOTES \ Source: forums.epicski.com.

Quotes about the great sport of Ski Racing Llrauh September 3rd, 2006, 08:26 PM Ski racing is a sport within itself, and it takes a certain kind of person to be a racer. A good friend of mine came up with something that, in my opinion, summarizes our life as ski racers quite accurately. Anyone have any thoughts of their own? "I used to think that I lived to ski race. Now I realize that racing was merely a medium for me to realize who I am, and what I could become; and more importantly, what it takes to get there." PEK SkiRacer55 September 5th, 2006, 09:42 AM ...downhill is a cult... SkiRacer55 September 5th, 2006, 11:54 AM Although I enjoy racing, I'm not a racer because I hated the idea of training, because I could have just been out skiing..... That said, I have one. This is just an observation that I turned into a quote many many moons ago. Speed skiers have no next of kin! And of course, there's the old favorite "Ski fast, take chances". "Know your limits and exceed them frequently." Sandgroper61 September 6th, 2006, 04:14 AM Early 80s: Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe (Mexico) to Lamine Gueye (Senegal) on what was, for both of them, their first course inspection at Kitzbuhel. Standing above the Mausefalle: Hubertus: "Lamine, do you believe in God?" Lamine: "At Kitzbuhel, what is important is not whether you believe in him, but whether he believes in you." Both survived, and went on to grace the Alpine World Cup with their "exotic" presence for many seasons. Superb. I don't have anything quite to match that, but with a month on the glacier at Tignes looming ahead of me, I think back to my most common quote the one time previously I have done gates ... "Ouch." Yuki September 6th, 2006, 05:11 AM One that cracked me up from the movie Downhill Racer. Dave Chaplet (Robert Redford's arrogant character), is home visiting his dad, a grass roots dairy farmer ..... Dad ... "I don't know why you do it" Chaplet .. "I'll be the champion!" Dad .. "World's full of em' .. " ............ totally dead pan unimpressed. KevinF September 6th, 2006, 05:53 AM "At Kitzbuhel, what is important is not whether you believe in him, but whether he believes in you." This might have to be added to my signature. Absolutely classic. Martin Bell September 6th, 2006, 11:52 AM Another telling quote from Downhill Racer: Young US racer to his coach, Gene Hackman: "That Chaplet's not for the team and never will be." Gene: "Well, it ain't exactly a team sport." Despite the leather ski boots and hay-bales for safety nets, that film is still relevant to modern ski-racing in some ways... SkiRacer55 September 6th, 2006, 12:28 PM "I really lack the words to compliment myself today." Thing is, probably nobody else could find the words, either... KevinF September 6th, 2006, 12:43 PM In my mind, there's only one Alberto Tomba quote: "Last Olympics, I partied with three women until 5:00 AM. Now I party with five women, but only until 3:00 AM." Probably not exact, but it gets the point across. whygimf September 6th, 2006, 01:30 PM A Bode quote, 12/97, after a short stint having been introduced to World Cup Racing: "I can beat those guys." whygimf September 6th, 2006, 04:09 PM Always associated to the wonderful Stein: "So Happy For You to Meet Me!" whygimf September 6th, 2006, 04:14 PM Bill Johnson, prior to the DH at the Olympics, 1984: "They should hand (the gold medal) to me. Everyone else can fight for second place." sfdean September 8th, 2006, 12:46 PM Former World Cup overall champion Stephan Eberharter, on Hermann Maier's winning the Nagano Olympic super-G one day after an upside-down 70 mph crash through two fences in the downhill. "I am the best ski racer in the World. But Hermann Maier--he is from another planet." SLATZ September 9th, 2006, 10:04 PM "Faster and faster until your love of speed overcomes your fear of death". Bumper sticker on a 68 Olds Toronado with boards with bindings mounted on them on a roof rack. Seen in the parking lot of the Mangy Moose in Jackson Hole, WY. :D Bill Johnson: "It's still snowing". Martin Bell September 9th, 2006, 11:12 PM Bill Johnson: "It's still snowing". I remember that one very well from the Sarajevo Olympic Village. It was usually followed by his distinctive "a-huh, a-huh, a-huh" laugh. patmoore September 10th, 2006, 12:03 AM My two favorites: "When you're over the hill, you pick up speed" and "If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room" samurai September 10th, 2006, 03:36 AM "To win the Powder-8's; you have to be able to ski anywhere, anytime in any condition." or something like that. Know the film? Of course you do. Picabo Street- after being asked why she is risking injury the week prior the olympics responded; "If I can jump out of an airplane, I can ski pretty damn fast." I fell in love with her at that moment. samurai September 10th, 2006, 03:37 AM K2 poster; "You push the envelope, we'll lick the stamps." sfdean September 11th, 2006, 12:50 AM 1. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. 2. Life is short. Ski fast. 3. Any day you finish with the same number of bones you started with, and all the ligaments attached, is a good day. 4. It's important to have good judgment. And it's important to have good luck, those times when you show bad judgment. JohnH September 11th, 2006, 07:28 AM I've upped my limits, so up yours! Gate Crasher September 15th, 2006, 09:05 AM The older I get, the faster I was. Flying Fossil September 17th, 2006, 10:35 PM Heard one this summer by a coach on the Palmer, an exortation to one of his racers in the start of a timed run: !!! SKI LIKE A YUGOSLAVIAN !!! - Fossil Alaska Mike September 18th, 2006, 11:27 AM ... I think back to my most common quote the one time previously I have done gates ... "Ouch." My usual notable quotes can't be repeated on a family website. I have a habit of berating myself most profanely. Flying Fossil September 19th, 2006, 11:13 PM Here's one from the seventies when the Mahre's were racing. I don't know if it was Hank Tauber or Harold Schonhaar at one of the summer coaches clinics in Bend they held when the USST was training on the high rope tow at Mt Bachelor. We all watched in awe on the hill then had classroom sessions down at Central Oregon College: "There's two kinds of ski racers in the world; those that win World Cup races, and those that don't" - Fossil DownhillDave September 25th, 2006, 01:27 AM From Bode Miller's "60 Minutes" interview: "For me, the ideal Olympics would be to go in with all that pressure, all that attention and have performances that are literally tear-jerking, that make people put their heads down because they're embarrassed at how emotional they're getting, that make people want to try sports, talk to their kids, call their f---ing ex-wives—and come away with no medals. I think that would be f---ing epic. That would be the perfect thing." And Bode might have been talking about me when he said, "Defining your criteria for success is easier when you suck." "Speed exposes weakness." Chad Fleischer "Big Air. Kids today, that's all they want, Big Air. I say stick to the mountain. That's where the fun is. You want Big Air, kid? Pull My Finger!" Smooth Johnson, Master of the Carve Guy Perillat, Killy's teammate, on the French style: "It is a natural technique, based essentially on flexion-extension with or without unweighting of one or two skis and displaying great freedom of spirit, dictated solely by the maintenance of the skier's balance and rejecting everything that seems superfluous or artificial." For speed events, I find inspiration in advice from the great sprinter, cyclist Mario Cippolini: "If you brake, you lose." And finally, my epitaph, a paraphrase of another cyclist, British Champion Tommy Simpson, before he perished on the slopes of Mt. Ventoux of exhaustion and amphetamines--"Click me back into my skis" ("Put me back on the bike.") Einstein was right: the faster you go, the slower you age.

 

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FUNNY SPORTS QUOTES \ Source: vaam-power.com

Quotes about Running

"Pressure is nothing more than the shadow of great opportunity." Michael Johnson

"I'm going to go out a winner if I have to find a high school race to win my last race."
Johnny Gray

"I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."
Jesse Owens

"It hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse."
Ann Trason

"Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts."
Steve Prefontaine

"The gun goes off and everthing changes... the world changes... and nothing else really matters."
Patti Sue Plummer

"You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming."
Frank Shorter

"Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible."
Doug Larson

"If you start to feel good during an ultra, dont' worry you will get over it."
Gene Thibeault

"The woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep."
Robert Frost

"I have met my hero, and he is me."
George Sheehan

"No negative thoughts cross my mind on race day. When I look into their eyes, I know I'm going to beat them."
Danny Harris

"Tough times don't last but tough people do."
A.C. Green

"I cannot have survival as my only goal. That would be too boring. My goal is to come back in my best running form. It is good for me to have that goal; it will help me."
Ludmila Engquist (Olympic champion hurdler facing cancer and chemotherapy)

"When I came back, after all those stories about Hitler and his snub, I came back to my native country, and I could not ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. Now what's the difference?"
Jesse Owens

"There are clubs you can't belong to, neighborhoods you can't live in, schools you can't get into, but the roads are always open."
Nike

"What matters is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog."
Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired."
Jules Renard

"I've always felt that long, slow distance produces long, slow runners."
Sebastian Coe

"We can't all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by."
Will Rogers

"The will to win means nothing if you haven't the will to prepare."   - Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner

Quotes about Cross Country Running
 
Stadiums are for spectators. We runners have nature and that is much better.
Juha Väätäinen, Finland

The start of a World Cross Country event is like riding a horse in the middle of a buffalo stampede. It's a thrill if you keep up, but one slip and you're nothing but hoof prints.
Ed Eyestone

The freedom of Cross Country is so primitive. It's woman vs. Nature.
Lynn Jennings

Quotes about Marathon Running

To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind.
Jerome Drayton

Marathon running is a terrible experience: monotonous, heavy, and exhausting.
Veikko Karvonen, 1954 European and Boston Marathon Champ

You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming.
Frank Shorter

Marathoning is like cutting yourself unexpectedly. You dip into the pain so gradually that the damage is done before you are aware of it. Unfortunately, when awareness comes, it is excruciating.
John Farrington, Australian marathoner

There is the truth about the marathon and very few of you have written the truth. Even if I explain to you, you'll never understand it, you're outside of it.
Douglas Wakiihuri speaking to journalists

We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.
Emil Zatopek

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FUNNY SPORTS QUOTES \ Source: globalsportscoaching.com

The Legends Speak Out

 

Tennis Quotes:

 

"It was an art and act I came to perfect.  It was part of my armoury.  I felt if my opponent didn't know what I was thinking then I was invincible."

Bjorn Borg

 

"Jimmy Conners doesn't like to lose, not even in practice."

Jimmy Arias

 

"Foot speed is the most important element in men's tennis today.  With the players bigger and stronger and equipment more powerful, speed is essential."

Pat McEnroe

 

"You can have a certain arrogance, and I think that's fine, but what you should never lose, is the respect for the others"

Steffi Graff

 

"Every Women on the tour should walk up to Billie Jean King and say thank you.  For she single-handedly made women's professional tennis what it is.

Chris Evert

 

"Champions keep playing until they get it right"

Billie Jean King

 

"You can be the best ball striker there is. But, if you can't get to the ball, it doesn't matter"

Martina Navratilova

 

"There is a very fine line between undertraining and overtraining, and the spot right between those two extremes is peak perform"

Chris Evert

 

"Training the body to obey the mind as I have done differs from the more conventional method of getting the mind to obey the body."

Chris Evert

 

"You can't measure success if you have never failed."

Steffi Graff

 

"Tennis essentially remains a game of artistry and psychology between two individuals that must be won with brains as well as with the body."

 

"Your game is only as good as your second serve."

John Newcombe

 

 "He has the comfortable middle-class look about him.  The English middle class basically don't have the stomach for a fight."

Pat Cash on Brit Tim Henman

 

"Tennis judges are usually frustrated tennis guys who didn't make it, or it people who want to be around the sport."

John McEnroe

 

"There is nothing I wouldn't do on court in order to win."

Boris Becker

 

"I didn't start a war.  Nobody died. I only lost a tennis match, nothing more.

Boris Becker

 

"You're always striving to play that perfect match."

Chris Evert

 

"Often after I lost a tournament, I'd be out practising harder than ever to make up my mind I wasn't going to loose the next one."

Margaret Court

 

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FUNNY SPORTS QUOTES \ Source: globalsportscoaching.com

Tennis Quotes:

"We get criticized for showing no personality, and then we get penalized when we do"

Lindsey Davenport world number 1

 

"Sampras, Sampras, Sampras, Sampras and Sampras"

Andre Agassi's reply when asked who the best five players of all time are.

 

"I like my job and think it Is a wonderful thing being a tennis player."

Venus Williams 2001

 

"This is the toughest sport of them all. Other sports don't play every night, when you are tired or hurt you don't get a substitute."

Pancho Gonzalez

 

On the coin toss Martina said "Do you want me to break your serve first or hold?" The umpire looked shocked. But we just both cracked up.

Lindsay Davenport

 

"Talent is great, but hard work is even better."

Richard Krajicek

 

"People criticise me for being arrogant (but maybe it's) because I'm a little smarter than the other."

Venus Williams

 

"I would never feel like I could have a relationship with a person I'm in competition against, that would allow them to understand me completely. You're always guarded."

Andre Agassi on Pete Sampras

 

"Before I was the hunter. Now I'm the hunted."

World No. 1 Martina Hingis

 

"This game is 50 percent mental, 45 percent physical, and 5 percent tennis."

Juan Carlos Ferrero 2003 French Open Champion

 

"To me, there is a cycle in sports: The more you enjoy it, the more you practise; the more you practise, the more you improve; therefore, you enjoy it more."

Pancho Gonzalez

 

"This is so great, to touch the trophy. If I never win another match I don't care. Whatever I do in my life, wherever I go, I'm going to always be a Wimbledon Champion."

Goran Ivanisevic

 

"Tennis will never end for me because I love it so much. When my professional career is over, I will continue to play all my life."

Monica Seles

 

"I've been working hard for years. I didn't win this match today. I won it in practice."

Alex Corretja 2001

 

"I realised that racquet throwing didn't help my game because I was always getting negative. I used to negative talk, now I don't talk. I used to throw my racquet like you probably can't imagine. It was like helicopters flying all over. I was getting kicked out of practice at age 16 non stop. Now I have learned to relax on court."

Roger Federer 2001

 

"She's as mean as a snake. She reminds me of me."

Martina Hingis on Maria Sharapova

 

"He deserved his victory. He was the better player tonight. Never take anything away from someone who beat me, because I was playing my best."

Roger Federer, after loosing to Rafael Nadal in the French Open 2005

 

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FUNNY SPORTS QUOTES \ Source: the-surfs-up.com

"Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."---- Satchel Paige Quoted from Baseball's Greatest Quotations by Paul Dickson. "We all have to play the ball as it lies." Bobby Jones responding to a question about his crippling disease later in life. The Bobby Jones Website "I'm like a duck: calm above water, but paddling like hell underneath." ---- Fred Shero NHL coach, general manager Great Quotes from Great Sports Heroes compiled by Peggy Anderson Career Press (1997) "Today as I look back on that opening game of my first world series, I must tell you that it was Mr. Rickey's drama and that I was only a principal actor. As I write this twenty years later, I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a black man in a white world. In 1972, in 1947, at my birth in 1919, I know that I never had it made."---- Jackie Robinson Jackie Robinson's autobiography, I Never Had It Made. "A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning." ---- Billie Jean King Tennis Pro Great Quotes from Great Sports Heroes compiled by Peggy Anderson Career Press (1997) "That man was so fast he could turn out the light and jump in bed before the room got dark."---- Satchel Paige -On Cool Papa Bell reported by Bob Broeg in his Sporting News Column, May 26 1973. "Jim Thorpe was probably the greatest natural athlete the world has seen in modern times." The New York Times Book of Sports Legends(1991) edited by Joseph Vecchione. "The only way I'd worry about the weather is if it snows on our side of the field and not theirs."---- Tommy Lasorda Major League manager Great Quotes from Great Sports Heroes compiled by Peggy Anderson Career Press (1997) "One might as well attempt to describe the smoothness of the wind as to paint a clear picture of his complete swing."---- Grantland Rice on Bobby Jones' swing. Bobby Jones Website "All this comin' and goin'. Rookies flyin' up the road and old-timers flyin' down, and nobody in between but me an' old John Mize, standin' pat, watchin' 'em go by. "And I ain't even sure about ol' John. Maybe he's flyin' on, too. If he is, I can always watch 'em go by myself. Time ain't gonna mess with me!"---- Satchel Paige Collier's, June 13, 1953. "I really don't like talking about money. All I can say is that the Good Lord must have wanted me to have it." ---- Larry Bird Basketball Great Great Quotes from Great Sports Heroes compiled by Peggy Anderson Career Press (1997) "A team in an ordinary frame of mind will do ordinary things. In the proper emotional stage, a team will do extraordinary things. To reach this stage, a team must have a motive that has an extraordinary appeal to them." ---- Knute Rockne 1888-1931 Champions of American Sport edited by Marc Pachter(1981) "Drive for show. But putt for dough." ---- Bobby Locke PGA Golfer Great Quotes from Great Sports Heroes compiled by Peggy Anderson Career Press (1997) "Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player who could have done what he did. To be able to hit with everybody yelling at him. He had to block all that out, block out everything but this ball that is coming in at a hundred miles an hour and he's got a split second to make up his mind if it's in or out or up or down or coming at his head, a split second to swing. To do what he did has got to be the most tremendous thing I've ever seen in sports."---- Reese, Harold "Pee Wee" On Jackie Robinson in an 1970 interview quoted by Roger Kahn in The Boys of Summer. "It got so I could nip frosting off a cake with my fastball."---- Satchel Paige Quoted from Maybe I'll Pitch Forever by Satchel Paige.

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FUNNY SPORTS QUOTES \ Source: globalsportscoaching.com

Quotes From Our Tennis Legends!

"Champions are people who want to leave their sport better off than when they started".

Arthur Ashe 1998

"A truly great player should be able to win on all surfaces."

Stan Smith 1983 – former Wimbledon and U.S champion

 

"Nobody but the world's top-ranked player knows what it takes to get to the top. 

You have to sacrifice everything."

Bjorn Borg – 11 time Grand Slam Champion

 

"People don't remember who finishes second."

Pete Sampras

 

"People know me.  I'm not going to produce any cartwheels out there.

 I'm not going to belong on comedy central.  I'll always be a tennis player,

not a celebrity."

Pete Sampras 1997

 

"Pancho Segura wants me to think about situations.  But I am not the type of

player who responds well to a lot of thinking."

Andre Agassi – on new coach Pancho Segura 1993

 

"My nerves were getting the best of me.  It happens to everybody.

 Anybody who says they don't choke, they're lying."

Pete Sampras – who saved 6 match points before eventually beating Gustavo Kuerten

 

"My father taught me one important lesson: to not be afraid to lose."

Chris Evert

 

"Don't ever show anything negative to your opponent."

John Newcombe – winner of 7 Grand Slam singles titles

 

"We all choke.  That's all right.  We're not machines.  What you have

 to learn is to accept the fact and not panic.  It's the panic that loses you

the match, not the nerves."

Rod Laver – from the 1988 book, Open Tennis: The first Twenty Years

 

"If you're not sure if a ball is in or out, give your opponent a reasonable

 benefit of the doubt".

Rod Laver – From the 1997 book, The Tennis Lover's Book of Wisdom

 

"I guess you could basically say I got too big for my britches…..

The way I handled things – throwing my rackets and loosing my

 temper – was a disgrace to myself."

Andre Agassi 1989

 

"Everyone always looked upon me as the bad guy – as the women

with big muscles.  That hurt."

Martina Navratilova 1991

 

"If there's one role model in tennis, it's Pete Sampras.  He's behaving

perfectly on the court, he's a nice fellow off the court, and he's playing

great tennis altogether.  I think he's extremely good for tennis."

Boris Becker 1995

 

"For me Sampras was always the most complete player.  He has

the power, he has the speed, he has the touch.  He is the best player ever."

Boris Becker 1997

 

"Sampras, Sampras, Sampras, Sampras, Sampras

Andre Agassi, when asked to name the 5 greatest players of all time 1998

 

"Pete is in a different world.  He looks like the best player I've ever seen in this sport."

John McEnroe 1997

 

"Martina is the best athlete I've seen in tennis, and probably the best ever. 

 I think if you combine strength and quickness and agility, she is the best

athlete, without a doubt."

Chris Evert on Martina Navratalova 1986

 

"For me she is the uncontested No. 1; she has left a mark on the sport

 like no one else."

Steffi Graff, naming Martina Navratalova as the greatest player in history 1999

"When Andre's on, forget it.  He does practically everything better than anybody else."

Pete Sampras

 

"Just because you're No.1 on the computer doesn't mean you're the

 best player in the world."

Pete Sampras 1998-99

 

"I…had been terribly impressed by this player who never said a word

and whose concentration was always so perfect.  Yes, he was the example I chose to follow."

Bjorn Borg on Rod Laver

 

"Tennis is a perfect combination of violent action taking place in

an atmosphere of total tranquility"

Billie Jean King

 

"This sport has given me so much that my hope would be to give

back as much as I can for as long as I can"

Andre Agassi

 

"Not since the days of Boris Becker have I seen such intimidation

on a tennis court.  Rafael Nadal is on clay what the German

phenomenon was on grass."

John McEnroe

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