Jimmy Connors Quotes

I hate to lose more than I like to win. I hate to see the happiness on their faces when they beat me!

Greatest thing in life: Winning a tennis match. Second greatest thing in life: Losing a tennis match

I never lost a tennis match, I just ran out of time

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

Rather than viewing a brief relapse back to inactivity as a failure, treat it as a challenge and try to get back on track as soon as possible.

[In the modern game] you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist or a hard court specialist... or you're Roger Federer...

New Yorkers love it when you spill your guts out there. Spill your guts at Wimbledon and they make you stop and clean it up.

What works for the person you're imitating may not work for you.

People don't seem to understand that it's a damn war out there. Maybe my methods aren't socially acceptable to some, but it's what I have to do to survive. I don't go out there to love my enemy. I go out there to squash him.

I am not looking to be understood or liked. Like me or not, I don't care. I am an outsider, that is the way I was brought up.

I can't say that I was my happiest on court, but I felt completely free. Free from family obligations, free from my own torment. In a real sense I was a different person. It was a place where I could not tolerate the idea of being beaten. I psyched myself up into a state where I felt something close to hatred towards my opponent, a state where I detested the idea of someone making his name at the expense of Jimmy Connors. I was in my element on court, measuring myself against someone else. I was not competitive for show. It came from deep within.

Tennis was never work for me, tennis was fun. And the tougher the battle and the longer the match, the more fun I had.

Nothing's perfect along the way [in life], and you ride the ups and downs. It's how you come out of those and continue on that I guess really matters.

I think my greatest victory was every time I walked out there, I gave it everything I had. I left everything out there. That's what I'm most proud of. I can't go win Wimbledon anymore, so if what I've done in the past is not good enough, let it go. Because I'm certainly not sitting around thinking about it.

I was raised by two women, and that laid the groundwork for the way I treat 'em: with the utmost respect and admiration.

I hate to lose more than I love to win.

There is only one number one. It is a lonely spot but it has got the best view of all.

I'm getting tired of saying hello to Stan Smith and not getting any reply. I'm cocky and confident and maybe I'm too bullheaded sometimes, but I think I have some fan and player support. I know what the others say, but I'm not that obnoxious. I am not a punk. I'm 5' 10", 155 pounds. I've got broad shoulders and I can pack a punch. Most of these guys are windbags anyway. If they ever try anything with me, I'll be to the net fast.

I had true rivalries. Not only did I want to beat my opponent, but I didn't want to let him up, either. I had a rivalry with Mac, Lendl, Borg. Everybody knew there was tension between us, on court and off. That's what's really ingrained in my mind: 'This is real. This isn't a soft rivalry.' There were no hugs and kisses.

I was never part of the crowd.

I don't go out there to love my enemy. I go out there to squash him.

There was never anything I wanted to do more than play tennis. Never once walked out there and thought, 'I wish I was doing something else.' Not once.

Big money encourages tanking. In my opinion, tanking is going on even with a lot of the top guys today - it's quite evident.

The minute you think you know everything about tennis is the minute your game starts going down the tubes.

People say I'm around because I have a lot of heart, but I know all the heart in the world couldn't have helped me if I wasn't physically fit.