You know, I still love the innocent parts of the game. I love hitting tennis balls. I love seeing the young guys do well. I'll still have a lot of friends to watch. I'll miss the relationships probably the most. As time passes, I'll probably miss the tennis more.
With a tennis racket strapped tightly to her hiking pack, Martina Navratilova began her ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro. The tennis legend had visions of celebrating at the summit of Africa's highest peak by hitting a couple balls to see how far they might fly in the thin air at 19,341 feet.
I enjoy hitting tennis balls. I haven't lost any of the innocent parts of tennis. I just do it in front of less people.
With tennis, you can go pick up a racket, take a lesson, and understand how much talent and skill it takes to be as good as the top pros. Same with golf: pick up a club. But not many can go out and get in a race car and experience a drive at over 200 miles an hour.
I had not picked up a tennis racket in 15 years, so I tried.
To me, mixed doubles is an undervalued tennis product. You have guys and girls playing on the same level, no handicaps. The guys aren't feeling bad for the girls. The girls pick on the guys. It's generally amazing tennis.
In the 1980s when I was growing up in the Berkshire town of Maidenhead I was heavily into tennis. It was the era of Borg and McEnroe. I used to spend hours hitting balls against a wall, imagining I was beating them both.
When I'm tired, I like to go and do drills where you catch tennis balls off walls. Different colors use different hands, and you've got to react to those types of things at different angles. I do all these crazy reaction-time things or reaction skills with tennis balls every morning, or at least four times a week.
I've been a professional for I think 13, 14 years. It's not easy hitting balls every day and staying really motivated throughout the whole period. It's normal [that] you're going to have ups and downs. But I found my way again. And I love the sport. I love competing. I love battling. I love being out there and playing in front of crowds. This is what I've been doing since I was a child. There's nothing else that I want to do.
I don't think I've ever held a racket in my hand ... There's got to be somebody in the US who isn't trying to play tennis and stinking up the court.
I was 7 years old and my dad gave me a wooden tennis racket.
For my tennis, I think it's better balls are flying because I like to play quicker, finish the point little bit quicker than other guys.
When I was a baby, I was on a tennis court every day with my mom and with my brothers, so I would pick up the balls for them when they'd play, and then sometimes I'd play with them, but not very often.
The problem with my guys, all my guys, they come in and improve themselves so fast in college: they go from 'He's this and this' to 'That kid is the first pick or second pick. Four. Five. Seven.' Tell me about those teams: not great. So my guys are walking into bad situations.
I had a swell racket. I was rewarded with honors, medals, promotions. l might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate a racket in three city districts. The Marines operated on three continents.
I carried through well with my tennis. I got the respect by usage of the tennis racket.