"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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