Tennis History Quotes

Tennis is not really a traditional Olympic sport.

Tim Henman has the all-time Betty Crocker draw. We're talking Easy Bake Oven.

I always said if I had to pick one Grand Slam to win, it would be the U.S. Open.

My goal one day is to be in the same sentence as Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall.

Night tennis began at the United States Open in 1975 with certain stars trying to beg out and certain patrons trying to dump unwanted tickets on scalpers.

I'm pretty realistic. I cannot wish to be Chris Evert or Martina Navratilova because they won, like, a hundred Grand Slams.

There is nothing like playing at Wimbledon; you can feel the footprints of the legends of the game-men and women-that have graced those courts.

Most of the time after the US Open, it is kind of like you are trying to finish strong. But to do it five years and maybe six is something that has never been done before, so it is a huge challenge.

Beating Roger Federer is a match I will remember for years to come. All my respect to him. Federer is arguably the greatest player to have ever played our sport, so beating him at Wimbledon was really special.

Wimbledon is a special place for me in so many ways and I feel privileged to have been such a big part of it over the years.

Nadal's the best player in history on [clay], and he is one of the best-ever players that played this game.

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.

Cristiano reminds me of German tennis player Michael Stich. He was destined to make history, but then Boris Becker showed up. Cristiano is so fast, so strong, so incredible, but he has one problem: Leo Messi.

I'm very interested in tennis, but when I try to tell younger players about [Bill] Tilden, they're not interested.

India has a very good tradition in tennis.

My goal one day is to be in the same sentence as Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall. If I can match them for 10 years, I'd be in their company. They were class acts. That's what I'd like to be.

The way I look at the top five, (Rod) Laver, (Roger) Federer, myself, Borg and (Ivan) Lendl. I think those five guys dominated their generations better than anyone. Maybe Roger will dominate better than any one of the other four. Maybe I put Andre (Agassi) as kind of six through 10 with, you know, (John) McEnroe and (Jimmy) Connors, kind of those guys. That's kind of how I see it.

How fitting [it would be if Roger Federer played the first match under the roof] ... he has become known in recent years as the King of Wimbledon ... and this is the day after of the death of the King of Pop.

It means everything, definitely. I mean, it's Wimbledon. Tennis here is tennis history. Centre Court is always great to play on. I really feel like I'm at home. I was really up and down after my title here in 2011, but I still worked hard and believed in myself, and my team believed in me as well.

I'm not the best player in the history of tennis. I think I'm amongst the best. That's true. That's enough for me.

I think winning at Wimbledon's huge. This is the biggest tournament in tennis for so many different reasons. You can see the history around the grounds. The Village around you, everyone lives for it.

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?

Barcelona, the tournament is, for all the Spanish players, an amazing event. I think is one of the top events on tour because is a historic event with a lot of tradition. A lot of years of the tournament, a lot of great players have been playing there. And it's in a real tennis club.

Wimbledon is the most prestigious tournament we have, and being able to win it with all the tradition, that's always been a dream of mine.

Nadal is going to break all the records.