John McEnroe Quotes

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

“But these guys learn so fast now, they sort of soak up the information, they're fearless. Those are the guys who learn from their mistakes and come back strong the next time.”

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

“Everybody loves success, but they hate successful people.”

“I am someone who gets pretty worked up.”

“I believe there's only one autobiography you can do.”

“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?”

“I don't think enough players channel the energy of the crowd. If it's done properly, and you don't let anger overwhelm and distract you, it's like a shot of adrenaline in the arm, and it gets the crowd pumped up.”

“I firmly believe that one of the hallmarks of a champion – any champion – is the ability to absorb losses and regain confidence immediately.”

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

“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.”

“I thought if I looked back and evaluated my life, it would help me in the future.”

“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.”

“I was always fighting the establishment, trying to run through brick walls.”

“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.”

“I won't admit to having a poster of Borg on my bedroom door. But I certainly found him to be someone who got me way more into tennis.”

“I would have thought that a woman would have become president before a black man.”

“I'd like to be the commissioner of tennis, but do I want to get into politics? Sometimes I have delusions of grandeur that that would be an interesting, good thing. I'm talking about actual politics, like being a congressman, but then I see how unbelievably nasty it really is, and maybe I'm not quite knowledgeable enough to actually do it.”

“I'd love to see all the guys play their best because I think it's better for tennis.”

“I'll let the racket do the talking.”

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

“I've never seen a good tennis movie. They all were terrible.”

“If Roger Federer stopped right now and never won another match, to me he'd already be one of the greatest players to ever play the game. To me, he's the greatest all around talent that I've ever seen.”

“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.”

“If you yell at your box, I'm not really sure it's something where it should be a penalty. It seems like you hurt yourself.”

“In general, people are administered drugs too readily.”

“It's one thing if you live in London and you're rooting for Chelsea or you're in New York and you love the Giants or Jets and no matter who's on the team you're into it. It's different in tennis; you're sort of your own guy, so you have to reach out and grab a person in a different way.”

“London is great, but New York is the greatest city in the world.”

“Maybe I should have played two more Australians and two less Davis Cups? I could have had more majors and still have three Davis Cups when most people don't have one.”

“Nadal and 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.”