The Tennis Court Quotes

On the tennis court, one needs a cool temperament, tremendous ball sense, reflexes, speed, hand-eye co-ordination, power, timing and peak physical fitness. Off the court, the player and support team need skills in planning, execution, travel, an ability to raise funds when needed, and several other talents. ~ Sania Mirza

I grew up on the tennis court with lots of other kids. There were like 40 kids all afternoon and I was one of the youngest ones, so I always had to chase everybody to keep up. ~ Martina Hingis

To me, Hewitt and Nadal would be the best spirited fighters I've ever seen on the tennis court. ~ Mats Wilander

I cried myself, thinking of the grass growing on her tennis court, and the cruelty that was natural. ~ William Trevor

I think I've always had a decent perspective on wins and losses on the tennis court. ~ Andy Roddick

I'm only superstitious on the tennis court. ~ Rafael Nadal

You know why I want to win? Because of 15,000 reasons inside of the tennis court. ~ Marat Safin

I got picked on a lot. I was a complete geek in school. I had braces. I didn't have the hot girlfriend. I wasn't ever sought after. I was a stocky, awkward kid who got laughed off the tennis court when I tried that. ~ Josh Brolin

We walked down the back stairwell into the garden where the old breakfast table used to be. 'This was my father's spot. I call it his ghost spot. My spot used to be over there, if you remember.' I pointed to where my old table used to stand by the pool.

'Did I have a spot?' he asked with a half grin.

'You'll always have a spot.'

I wanted to tell him that the pool, the garden, the house, the tennis court, the orle of paradise, the whole place, would always be his ghost spot. Instead, I pointed upstairs to the French windows of his room. Your eyes are forever there, I wanted to say, trapped in the sheer curtains, staring out from my bedroom upstairs where no one sleeps these days. When there's a breeze and they swell and I look up from down here or stand outside on the balcony, I'll catch myself thinking that you're in there, staring out from your world to my world, saying, as you did on that one night when I found you on the rock, I've been happy here. You're thousands of miles away but no sooner do I look at this window than I'll think of a bathing suit, a shirt thrown on on the fly, arms resting on the banister, and you're suddenly there, lighting up your first cigarette of the day - twenty years ago today. For as long as the house stands, this will be your ghost spot - and mine too, I wanted to say. ~ Andre Aciman

I'm as patient a father as I am on the tennis court. It takes a lot for me to get really upset, but sometimes kids can get you really cross if they really keep bugging you. ~ Roger Federer

The Gullikson twins here. An interesting pair, both from Wisconsin. ~ Dan Maskell

Definition of Love: A score of zero in tennis. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears of all my life. ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Hannah asked. "Six cans or three quarts of canned tomatoes, two onions the size of a tennis ball, sixteen ounces of jalapeno peppers or one pint if you've canned them yourself, a tablespoon and a half of garlic powder, a teaspoon and a half of both black pepper and salt, and some cilantro chopped fine if you want. Makes a gallon," Sue said. "I found ~ Carolyn Brown

I used to play a lot of tennis and then, next thing you know, same thing with tennis. That banging on the knees, the jarring, twisting motion - I couldn't do it. All of a sudden, every time I played, my knee would swell up. ~ Caitlyn Jenner

Whoever said technology would replace all paper > obviously hasn't tried wiping their bottom with an iPad. Q. How do you find Will Smith in the snow? A. You look for the fresh prints. Q. Why should you never date a tennis player? A. Because love means nothing to them. ~ Hudson Moore

Between the amateur and the professional ... there is a difference not only in degree but in kind. The skillful man is, within the function of his skill, a different psychological organization ... A tennis player or a watchmaker or an airplane pilot is an automatism but he is also criticism and wisdom. ~ Bernard DeVoto

I knew this one Catholic boy, Louis Shaney, when I was at the Whooton School. Then, after a while, right in the middle of the goddam conversation, he asked me, "Did you happen to notice where the Catholic church is in town, by any chance?" The thing was, you could tell by the way he asked me that he was trying to find out if I was a Catholic. He really was. Not that he was prejudiced or anything, but he just wanted to know. He was enjoying the conversation about tennis and all, but you could tell he would've enjoyed it more if I was a Catholic and all. That kind of stuff drives me crazy. I'm not saying it ruined our conversation or anything - it didn't - but it sure as hell didn't do it any good. That's why I was glad those two nuns didn't ask me if I was a Catholic. It wouldn't have spoiled the conversation if they had, but it would've been different, probably. I'm not saying I blame Catholics. I don't. I'd be the same way, probably, if I was a Catholic. It's just like those suitcases I was telling you about, in a way. All I'm saying is that it's no good for a nice conversation. That's all I'm saying. ~ J.D. Salinger

I had not accounted for the fact that I had about as much control over my situation as a tennis ball does when a cat is toying with it. I was no more than a plaything of some unseen and immensely powerful otherworldly force that would not be denied its fun, and certainly not because of my pathetically ineffective countermeasures. ~ Ronan O'Brien

I adore Wilkie Collins," Tessa cried. "Oh - Armadale! And The Woman in White …
Are you laughing at me?"
"Not at you," said Will, grinning, "more because of you. I've never seen anyone get so
excited over books before. You'd think they were diamonds."
"Well, they are, aren't they? Isn't there anything you love like that? And don't say 'spats' or 'lawn tennis' or something silly."
"Good Lord," he said with mock horror, "it's like she knows me already. ~ Cassandra Clare

To see Good Tennis! What divine joy Can fill our leisure, or our minds employ? Let other people play at other things; The King of Games is still the Game of Kings. ~ James Kenneth Stephen

In tennis, because of the way it's scored, I don't think that scoring one point out of luck is ever decisive in winning. But, of course, it depends on the moment. ~ Rafael Nadal

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. ~ Andre Agassi

In the States, tennis is sixth or seventh on the totem pole as far as sports go. ~ Andy Roddick

The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get, I'll never be as good as a wall. ~ Mitch Hedberg

I was not above filching empty candy bar wrappers from
trash bins at the park or picking up the back cards of batteries from
store parking lots. My children all sported Hershey shirts but ate
very few of the required candy bars themselves to get them. Trips
to the pool were the most rewarding, where candy was sold at the
concession stand and the trash receptacles were overflowing with
wrappers. On neighborhood trash day, the children and I walked
up and down the alleys, where we confiscated extra Pampers points
to send in for savings bonds and toys. Even the tennis shoes my
children wore on these jaunts were obtained free from the Huggies
diaper company. ~ Mary Potter Kenyon

I never think about the numbers. I've never played tennis for the money, because as long as I enjoy it, and I can achieve anything, then the money will come. I know that things will start coming up, many more people will want to start getting involved. But I just want to keep my head cool, and I want to leave (business) to the people who take care of business. I just go out and I just play tennis. ~ Maria Sharapova

I am completely an elitist in the cultural but emphatically not the social sense. I prefer the good to the bad, the articulate to the mumbling, the aesthetically developed to the merely primitive, and full to partial consciousness. I love the spectacle of skill, whether it's an expert gardener at work or a good carpenter chopping dovetails. I don't think stupid or ill-read people are as good to be with as wise and fully literate ones. I would rather watch a great tennis player than a mediocre one, unless the latter is a friend or a relative. Consequently, most of the human race doesn't matter much to me, outside the normal and necessary frame of courtesy and the obligation to respect human rights. I see no reason to squirm around apologizing for this. I am, after all, a cultural critic, and my main job is to distinguish the good from the second-rate, pretentious, sentimental, and boring stuff that saturates culture today, more (perhaps) than it ever has. I hate populist [shit], no matter how much the demos love it. ~ Robert Hughes

Maybe, one other match better; but if you look at the tournament as a whole, I played very high quality tennis for seven matches and raised my game when I needed to. ~ Richard Krajicek

At once, she dropped her gaze 2 the floor so she wouldn't have 2 meet the stares because she knew exactly how she looked, which was bad, very bad, extra bad from the top of her dyed head to the tip of her tennis-shoed toes. She had an enormous urge to look up and say to the class, I'm prettier than this. Really. ~ Elizabeth George

In the complete overall history of tennis, I figure I'll be worth a sentence or two ... That's why my place in the all-time rankings means so very little to me, because I know I won't be anybody's number one, and it's that same old thing: if you're not number one, then what does it really matter? ~ Billie Jean King

was thinking - um, maybe you should let me do the talking." He glanced over at her. "What are you saying? That I'm scary?" "You're the scariest person I've ever met." "Thank you," he said with a wicked smile. "That's the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a long time." "No, really. You're scarier than Frankenstein." He chuckled. "You're so scary that a great white shark would put on tennis shoes and run up the beach to get away from you." His chuckle turned into a laugh. "I mean it," she said, getting into the spirit of it. "If the boogey man was in your closet, he'd stay there until you left for work." "Okay, okay," he said, holding up one hand while trying to stop laughing. "I got it. When we find the girl, you can do the talking." She nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. ~ Arthur Bradley

I'm about the present. ~ Monica Seles

Except in a very few matches, usually with world-class performers, there is a point in every match (and in some cases it's right at the beginning) when the loser decides he's going to lose. And after that, everything he does will be aimed at providing an explanation of why he will have lost. He may throw himself at the ball (so he will be able to say he's done his best against a superior opponent). He may dispute calls (so he will be able to say he's been robbed). He may swear at himself and throw his racket (so he can say it was apparent all along he wasn't in top form). His energies go not into winning but into producing an explanation, an excuse, a justification for losing. ~ C. Terry Warner

Henman and Coria have met three times in the past and they've won one apiece. ~ Annabel Croft

Most expert, skilled behavior works this way, whether it is playing tennis or a musical instrument, or doing mathematics and science. Experts minimize the need for conscious reasoning. Philosopher ~ Donald A. Norman

Part of the experience of enjoying a tennis match on TV is listening to the observations of an expert commentator
one who knows the sport, has a genuine passion for the game, respects the viewers' intelligence, knows when to talk and when to keep quiet, can make you laugh and is not afraid to call a spade a spade. ~ Dave McPherson

Tennis was always sort of a - a learning. It was a vehicle for me to discover a lot about myself. And the things that I sort of discovered at times I not only didn't want to see it for myself but I certainly didn't want millions of people to see it. ~ Andre Agassi

My fines? I pay more fines than some guys' career prize money on the tour. ~ Goran Ivanisevic

An idle person is the devil's tennis ball, which he bandies up and down with temptation until at last the ball goes out of play. ~ Thomas Watson

They were adored by the Germans, who thought they were exactly what Englishmen ought to be. They made war look stylish and reasonable, and fun ...
They were dressed half for battle, half for tennis or croquet. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

If Davis Cup was a little bit less or once every two years, I would be more inclined to play. But the way it is now, it is too much tennis for me. ~ Pete Sampras

If she gets the jitters now, then she isn't the great champion that she is. ~ Max Robertson

I love football and it's the sport I would really like to play. I've said on national television here that I would really love to play for one of our football clubs when I finished my tennis career. ~ Novak Djokovic

When I wrote my first book, 'The Tennis Party', my overriding concern was that I didn't write the autobiographical first novel. I was so, so determined not to write about a 24-year-old journalist. It was going to have male characters, and middle-aged people, so I could say, 'Look, I'm not just writing about my life, I'm a real author.' ~ Sophie Kinsella

A good thing is I've been playing tennis I think every day for the last two months. I really haven't had a day off. I've been doing things that I did used to do. ~ Stefan Edberg

The crowds are very important for tennis. It makes you play better, but it can also make you nervous and that's the beauty of it. ~ Roger Federer

We spent the first night of our honeymoon in a country hotel, with Tudor architecture oak beams, and floors which sloped, of the Queen-Elizabeth-Slept-Here variety. There were old tennis-courts - the Tudor kind where Henry VIII was said to have played; and gardens filled with winter heather, jasmine and yellow chrysanthemums. [ ... ] So that first night together was spent in the ancient bedroom with the tiny leaded paned windows, through which shafts of moonlight touched the room with a dreamlike radiance [ ... ] ~ Jean Plaidy

The thing I learned from playing tennis is that I know what competition is. I can handle rejection. ~ Aaron Zigman

While classical mechanics correctly predicts the behavior of large objects such as tennis balls, to predict the behavior of small objects such as electrons, we must use quantum mechanics. ~ Ivar Giaever

Before, I would play a little hoops, a little tennis. Now it's more yoga, Pilates, stretching, some light weight work, push-ups, sit-ups, resistance things. When I used to live on the eleventh floor, I would take the steps. I don't do that so much now. I'm taking the elevator a bit more these days. ~ Robin Roberts

I guess it's like James Joyce when he was a kid, you know. He hung out with all the great writers of the day, and he was a little kid, like, with tennis shoes on, and they said 'Look at this lame!' They didn't use those words in those days. They said 'God, here comes this nut.' And he told them, 'I'm great!' And he sat with them, and he loved to be with them, and it ended up that he was great. ~ Art Pepper

Working quickly was the trick of it. When Samuel Pepys underwent a lithotomy - the removal of a kidney stone - in 1658, the surgeon took just fifty seconds to get in and find and extract a stone about the size of a tennis ball. (That is, a seventeenth-century tennis ball, which was rather smaller than a modern one, but still a sphere of considerable dimension.) ~ Bill Bryson

Those two volleys really could be the story of this match summed up at the end of it. ~ Barry Davies

Training the body to obey the mind as I have done differs from the more conventional method of getting the mind to obey the body. ~ Chris Evert

I'm actually pretty good at tennis. Well, if I'm in the Special Olympics or something. ~ Chelsea Handler

I think all tennis players have to struggle through the early stages of their career. We start off playing tournaments and really just get by. I always had a dream to play in the big tournaments and never have doubted if it was worth it. Having to battle a little early on in my career makes it all the more worthwhile now. ~ Samantha Stosur