Top Tennis Quotes: Victory, Humility, Championship, and Passion

Andre Agassi famously said, “In tennis, you’re on an island. Of all the games, men and women play, tennis is the closest to solitary confinement.”

Indeed, the top is a lonely place.

But, time and again, it is not always about the greatest tennis player of all time. Their words are all the more reason these men and women deserve respect.

Famous tennis quotes

Experience is a great advantage. The problem is that when you get the experience, you’re too damned old to do anything about it. ~ Jimmy Connors

Freed from the thoughts of winning, I instantly play better. I stop thinking; start feeling. My shots become a half-second quicker, my decisions become the product of instinct rather than logic. ~ Andre Agassi

I just try to play tennis and don’t find excuses. You know, I just lost because I lost, not because my arm was sore. ~ Goran Ivanisevic

I play each point like my life depends on it. ~ Rafael Nadal

It’s one-on-one out there, man. There ain’t no hiding. I can’t pass the ball. ~ Pete Sampras

If you can keep playing tennis when somebody is shooting a gun down the street, that’s concentration. ~ Serena Williams

I’m not afraid of anyone, but sometimes I’m afraid of myself. ~ Justine Henin

As a tennis player, you have to get used to losing every week. Unless you win the tournament, you always go home as a loser. But you have to take the positive out of a defeat and go back to work. Improve to fail better. ~ Stan Wawrinka

Losing is not my enemy, fear of losing is my enemy. ~ Rafael Nadal

Tennis is mostly mental. You win or lose the match before you even go out there. ~ Venus Williams

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. ~ Andre Agassi

If you don’t practice, you don’t deserve to win. ~ Andre Agassi

The mark of great sportsmen is not how good they are at their best, but how good they are at their worst. ~ Martina Navratilova

In tennis, it is not the opponent you fear, it is the failure itself, knowing how near you were but just out of reach. ~ Andy Murray

I enjoyed the position I was in as a tennis player. I was to blame when I lost. I was to blame when I won. And I really like that, because I played soccer a lot too, and I couldn’t stand it when I had to blame it on the goalkeeper. ~ Roger Federer

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. ~ Arthur Ashe

What is the single most important quality in a tennis champion? I would have to say desire, staying in there and winning matches when you are not playing that well. ~ John McEnroe

Since I don’t look like every other girl, it takes a while to be okay with that. To be different. But different is good. ~ Serena Williams

As a tennis player you can win and you can lose, and you have to be ready for both. I practised self-control as a kid. But as you get older they both – winning and losing – get easier. ~ Rafael Nadal

Luck has nothing to do with it, because I have spent many, many hours, countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing when it would come. ~ Serena Williams

You don’t have to be pretty for people to come and see you play. At the same time, if you’re a good athlete, it doesn’t mean you’re not a woman. ~ Martina Navratilova

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. ~ Andre Agassi

I’ve been playing against older and stronger competition my whole life. It has made me a better tennis player and able to play against this kind of level despite their strength and experience. ~ Maria Sharapova

I don’t mind fans coming up in a friendly, respectful way. That’s all part of the fun of being a top tennis player. But if people take pictures without permission, particularly if my children are in the shot, I feel uncomfortable. ~ Roger Federer

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