A collection of quotes and thoughts by John McEnroe on seriousness, wife, Wimbledon, learning, life, fighting, tennis, sports, love, team, success and winning.
John McEnroe is an American retired tennis player, who is often regarded as one of the most extraordinary players in the history of tennis. His volleying skills and shot-making artistry made him highly popular. He is also known for his on-court bellicose behaviour that often landed him in vexation with tennis authorities and umpires. He bagged in 17 ‘Grand Slams’ including one mixed doubles, seven singles and nine men’s doubles. He also holds the record of winning eight year-end championships along with being the holder of nineteen ‘Grand Prix Super Series’ titles in his career. He triumphed thrice at Wimbledon and four times at the U.S Open. We have rounded some popular, interesting and famous catchphrases, quotes and sayings which have been excerpted from the eminent tennis star’s thoughts, opinions, interviews, utterances, on the court outbursts, memoirs, and life. Zoom through the list of most frequently quoted quotes and thoughts by John McEnroe.
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.
John McEnroe
In general, people are administered drugs too readily.
John McEnroe
I would not have an event before the majors. I would build them up. It very rarely happens that a player plays the week before, wins the event, and then goes on to win the slam.
John McEnroe
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.
John McEnroe
I would put tiebreakers in the fifth set, no question about it.
John McEnroe
Do women golfers say they could go out and beat Tiger Woods?
John McEnroe
I've seen tennis clubs close in Manhattan and garages put up in their place, and I'd sure like to be part of reversing that trend.
I had a harsh lesson in 1996, when I lost four times to Andres Gomez on clay.
John McEnroe
I used to get two racquets a year. As you can imagine, they didn't last me too long.
John McEnroe
Of course for your main rivals, you're going to get extra motivated for it, particularly if you haven't played him for a long time.
John McEnroe
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?
John McEnroe
As I got older and started moving up the ranking, the matches got more important, and my emotions ratcheted up. I guess I hid my real feelings behind the anger.
John McEnroe
I was a Yankee fan until 1981. That was the year the Yankees were two up on the Dodgers and lost four straight. And George Steinbrenner apologized to the city.
John McEnroe
I like John McCain, or he seems like a cool guy in a lot of ways. I don't agree with a lot of his policies, but he still seems like a cool guy.
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.
John McEnroe
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 got a lot of publicity, but it steamrolled. Event organizers weren't used to that kind of behavior, so later, they tightened the rules.
John McEnroe
I did a terrible job of composing myself. I was a spoiled brat from Long Island who benefitted from the energy of New York.
John McEnroe
Look at Becker and Djokovic. If you look at Novak's record since Boris has been there, it's been phenomenal.
John McEnroe
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.
John McEnroe
I can't advocate people not liking each other. But... I'd prefer it.
John McEnroe
I always got along with Borg, who was my greatest rival. People like to see me and Connors, me and Lendl, go at it. We didn't like each other.
Roland Garros is the only one of the four majors that is 15 days, and that is too long.
John McEnroe
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.
John McEnroe
I didn't get along with most of the players I played against, but the one guy I did get along with was my greatest rival, so it can be done.
John McEnroe
I happened to be one of those guys who doesn't play much golf.
John McEnroe
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.
John McEnroe
If people do things without thinking them through, that rubs me up the wrong way.
John McEnroe
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 would have thought that a woman would have become president before a black man.
John McEnroe
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.
John McEnroe
Tennis was a white, upper-class sport, and I wanted it to be treated like other sports were.
John McEnroe
I am someone who gets pretty worked up.
John McEnroe
I'm generally happy, although my kids and wife may sometimes argue with that.
John McEnroe
I thought if I looked back and evaluated my life, it would help me in the future.
John McEnroe
I didn't serve and volley until I got to Wimbledon in '77.
John McEnroe
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.
John McEnroe
No one cares about the Davis Cup. How many people know I won five Davis Cups and seven majors, but that I rarely played the Australian Open?
John McEnroe
The only thing 'championship' about Wimbledon is its prestige.
John McEnroe
Believe it or not, I was a pretty shy youngster growing up.
John McEnroe
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.
Things slow down, the ball seems a lot bigger and you feel like you have more time. Everything computes - you have options, but you always take the right one.
There's something deeply satisfying when it succeeds, but I'm not going to do another book just to put my name on something and make some money if it's not something I deeply care about.
John McEnroe
I believe there's only one autobiography you can do.
I haven't seen a professional player come out of New York in over 20 years since my brother Patrick came out. Blake spent a few years in Harlem, but he moved to Connecticut when he was a kid.
John McEnroe
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.
John McEnroe
Well I think that's probably one of a few, where I grew up in the City of New York, it's got a lot of energy, my parents are Irish-American so there was a bit of yelling going on in my house but it seemed normal.
John McEnroe
I'll let the racket do the talking.
John McEnroe
You're asking too much of the women. They shouldn't be playing as many events as men. If tennis is best served by women playing events with men, so be it.
John McEnroe
My best tennis at my peak was when I played a lot of matches.
John McEnroe
The mistake, if I made one, in the late 1980s, was thinking I needed to change my game.
John McEnroe
If you're out there and things are going badly, are you going to cry or break down?
John McEnroe
It's only human nature to want to know what you can do on your own or with someone else.
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.
John McEnroe
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.
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!
John McEnroe
I grew up watching Dr. J, and I was like, 'Oh my God, this guy is the greatest basketball player I ever saw.'
Jack Nicholson didn't get anything until he was in his thirties. You have to persevere and put yourself in positions, and sooner or later, you will break through.
John McEnroe
I'm a tell-it-like-it-is kind of person; I don't like being misled or someone not telling the truth. That upsets me.
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.
John McEnroe
I am finicky about making sure my sneakers are pretty tight. It is almost like a superstition for me.
John McEnroe
London is great, but New York is the greatest city in the world.
John McEnroe
Everybody loves success, but they hate successful people.
John McEnroe
I like to be close to water and the ocean, particularly. I love to get out and body surf. I like mountain biking, too.
To be involved in a senior tournament back in the States is very satisfying.
John McEnroe
You have to keep persevering. An actor goes to a lot of auditions and doesn't get the part.
John McEnroe
If Roger 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.
John McEnroe
The older I get, the better I used to be.
John McEnroe
The good part of having six kids is, there's always one who wants to hug you and say, 'Daddy, I love you.'
