If you don’t practice you don’t deserve to win.
No matter what your life is, choosing it changes everything.
I slide to my knees and say, “Please let this be over.” Then, I’m not ready for it to be over.
Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work.
All the good stuff is on the other side of tired.
Life will throw everything but the kitchen sink in your path, and then it will throw the kitchen sink. It’s your job to avoid the obstacles. If you let them stop you or distract you, you’re not doing your job, and failing to do your job will cause regrets that paralyze you more than a bad back.
I feel old when I see mousse in my opponent’s hair.
Remember this. Hold on to this. This is the only perfection there is, the perfection of helping others. This is the only thing we can do that has any lasting meaning. This is why we’re here. To make each other feel safe.
How lovely it is to dream while you are awake.
I’ve been cheered by thousands, booed by thousands, but nothing feels as bad as the booing inside your own head during those ten minutes before you fall asleep.
You’ll hear a lot of applause in your life, but none will mean more to you than that applause from your peers. I hope each of you hears that at the end.
A strong body listens. It obeys. A weak body commands. If your body is weak it tells you what to do. If your body is strong it’ll actually listen to you when you tell it to do something. If you build it right you can overcome some of the obstacles of age and recovery.
Tennis is at an amazing time when you’ve got two of the best players ever to play the game. You can argue the two very best playing in the same generation. It’s a rivalry I think that we’ve never seen in our sport.
Tennis uses the language of life. Advantage, service, fault, break, love – the basic elements of tennis are those of everyday existence, because every match is a life in miniature.
If I’ve learned nothing else, it’s that time and practice equal achievement.
There are many ways of getting strong, sometimes talking is the best way.
No athletes talk to themselves like tennis players. Pitchers, golfers, goalkeepers, they mutter to themselves, but tennis players talk to themselves-and answer. Tennis players look like lunatics in a public square.
I question myself every day. That’s what I still find motivating about this. I don’t have the answers, I don’t pretend that I do just because I won the match. Just keep fighting and maybe something good happens.
Hate brings me to my knees, love gets me on my feet.