John McEnroe Quotes
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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.
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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.
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What made my matches against Borg and Connors interesting was, comparing it to boxing, it was like a puncher and a counter-puncher.
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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.
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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?
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I can barely remember what I was like 36 years ago when I was 21 years old.
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I would put tiebreakers in the fifth set, no question about it.
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Do you have any problems, other than that you're unemployed, a moron, and a dork?
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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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I'd love to see all the guys play their best because I think it's better for tennis.
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I am someone who gets pretty worked up.
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I remember when I was younger taking more pride in Wimbledon than the French. That and the U.S. Open - they were the ones I wanted to win.
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Sometimes my negativity worked to my advantage, and early in my career, it got me going. But you need to understand that you're not just fighting opponents, you're also fighting yourself.
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They should be required to be in less events; there should be less events for the women. It seems it takes an actual meltdown on the court or women quitting the game altogether before they realize there's a need to change the schedule.
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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.'
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Roland Garros is the only one of the four majors that is 15 days, and that is too long.
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Women have it better in tennis than any other sport, but you shouldn't push them to play more than they're capable of playing.
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I can't advocate people not liking each other. But... I'd prefer it.
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Tennis was a white, upper-class sport, and I wanted it to be treated like other sports were.
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The good part of having six kids is, there's always one who wants to hug you and say, 'Daddy, I love you.'
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When I was 15 and playing in Kalamazoo, I ran into a light pole on the side of the court and was knocked out for a little while - when I woke up, I was seeing stars!