“Drummed into me, above all, by my dad, by the whole family, was that without your good name, you would be nothing.”

I guess I started too early because I just thought it was something fun to do.

You come to realize that life is short, and you have to step up. Don’t feel sorry for me. Much is expected of those who are strong.

Trust has to be earned, and should come only after the passage of time.

You’ve got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing.

I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full.

I guess I started too early because I just thought it was something fun to do.

I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full.

The ideal attitude is to be physically loose and mentally tight.

If I don’t ask “Why me?” after my victories, I cannot ask “Why me?” after my setbacks and disasters.

I spent many, many hours in libraries. Libraries became courts of last resort, as it were.

Having grown up in a segregated environment in the south I know what it’s like to be stepped on, I know what it’s like also to see some black hero do well in the face of adversity.

There is a syndrome in sports called ‘paralysis by analysis.’

I accepted the face that as much as I want to lead others, and love to be around other people, in some essential way, I am something of a loner.

I’m learning to use others’ weaknesses. I don’t hammer a man’s soft spot constantly, because he may strengthen it. I just save it as a trump up my sleeve for moments when I really need a point.

I’m learning to use others’ weaknesses. I don’t hammer a man’s soft spot constantly, because he may strengthen it. I just save it as a trump up my sleeve for moments when I really need a point.

Sometimes, a defeat can be more beautiful and satisfying than certain victories. The English have a point in insisting that it matters not who won or lost, but how you played the game.

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.

Growing up I wasn’t the richest, but I had a rich family in spirit. Standing here with 19 championships is something I never thought would happen. I went on a court just with a ball and a racket and with a hope.

Probably because I’m from a middle class family, I have that nature in me that I don’t get too excited with big things.

My first priority is my family. I am human. But my whole family knows what my priority is. Family is always first. But my work is under nothing else, except God.

If I have a daughter and she plays tennis, and I have a son who plays tennis, I wouldn’t say that my son deserves more money because he’s a man. I would say they deserve the same amount of money.

Family’s first, and that’s what matters most. We realize that our love goes deeper than the tennis game.

My friends are my estate.

I’m thankful to my family, friends, and fans for all of their support.