Top 159 Quotes & Sayings by John McEnroe - Page 2

The sting of losing is bad.

I am finicky about making sure my sneakers are pretty tight. It is almost like a superstition for me.

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

I happened to be one of those guys who doesn't play much golf.

I can barely remember what I was like 36 years ago when I was 21 years old.

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

Roland Garros is the only one of the four majors that is 15 days, and that is too long.

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!

I used to take pride if my kids were playing basketball, and I'd be there, and I wouldn't say anything. People were obviously expecting me to yell and scream at the ref and at them and everything. I wouldn't say anything.

Look at Becker and Djokovic. If you look at Novak's record since Boris has been there, it's been phenomenal.

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.'

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

I can't advocate people not liking each other. But... I'd prefer it.

Kyrgios has got to look in the mirror if he wants to become a top player and win Grand Slams.

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.

It seems like the richer you are, the more chance you have of paying less tax.

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.

I just remember watching Federer the first year he won Wimbledon. He was struggling with his back problem. I remember it vividly. It looked like there was a chance he was not going to finish. He had that look in his eye. Then, somehow, he found the wherewithal to dig a little deeper, and suddenly he wins the thing, and he's a different player.

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?

No other athlete in any sport has ever had to go through what I have to.

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.

My best tennis at my peak was when I played a lot of matches.

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

The only thing 'championship' about Wimbledon is its prestige.

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.

When I was eight and a half, my parents moved to a part of Queens where there was a club nearby. We joined, and if you believe in someone up above, I think I was meant to play tennis.

If they think I'm better at commentating than I was as a player, then I must be pretty darned good at commentating.

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

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 used to get two racquets a year. As you can imagine, they didn't last me too long.

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.

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.

They would go back and listen to my matches, and two days later, I'd be fined. Because no one heard it while it was being played, but they heard it on some mic behind the court. Is that the way it should be? I don't think so.

If people do things without thinking them through, that rubs me up the wrong way.

I'd never left America until I was 18.

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.'

What made my matches against Borg and Connors interesting was, comparing it to boxing, it was like a puncher and a counter-puncher.

I was always taught that you needed to be intense and never lose your focus.

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.

I can tell you from experience that when you get that pent-up and crazed, it can be distracting.

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.

I had a harsh lesson in 1996, when I lost four times to Andres Gomez on clay.

I grew up watching Dr. J, and I was like, 'Oh my God, this guy is the greatest basketball player I ever saw.'

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.

The good part of having six kids is, there's always one who wants to hug you and say, 'Daddy, I love you.'

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.

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.

You have to keep persevering. An actor goes to a lot of auditions and doesn't get the part.

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.

Tennis was a white, upper-class sport, and I wanted it to be treated like other sports were.

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

Nick Kyrgios, if you don't want to be a professional tennis player, do something else.

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.

When I walk out there on court, I become a maniac... Something comes over me, man.

I'm 56 years old. I like to get out on the court. I continue to try to play the best I can. Obviously, I'm nowhere near where I was when half this age. But I can still hit a pretty decent ball.

We should reach out to people to try to go after the fans the way other sports do. Because we can't just depend on the fact that it is a great game.

I am someone who gets pretty worked up.

You can't give away points and games against someone like Murray. You're not going to make it to the top with that kind of effort.

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

I got a lot of publicity, but it steamrolled. Event organizers weren't used to that kind of behavior, so later, they tightened the rules.