Below are 50 inspirational tennis quotes from various tennis players. If you play tennis, then you know the ability to hit the ball where you want the ball to go and how fast is just part of the game. Whether you have a killer server, speed, great net game, powerful forehand or any other skill, none of that really matters if you are mentally beat. Once you get to a certain level of skill, much of of your game will be mental. How many unforced errors will it take before you just lose it? How many missed serves or lost break points will occur until you mentally give up?
There have been countless matches where it looked like one player would surely lose and would end up making a comeback and winning such as the 2011 US Open semi-finals where Novak Djokovic was down 2 sets against Federer staring at match point but ended up saving the game, winning the next 3 sets, and taking the game.
Mental toughness doesn’t just apply to the person who is losing, it applies to the one winning as well. When you’re ahead and start thinking about the victory and all of the sudden have your opponent win the next several sets, panic can start to kick in and that can also ruin your game. Hopefully, these quotes about tennis will help you get to the next level mentally.
Let’s start off with a motivational tennis video:
Motivational Tennis Quotes
“In my case, I can sincerely say that nothing is impossible. When I was saying I want to be No. 1 of the world, and I was seven or eight years old, most of the people were laughing at me because it seems like I have one percent of chances to do that, and I’ve done it.” – Novak Djokovic
“Things are never perfect, so I never get too high about things, or get too down about things anymore.” – Victoria Azarenka
“The only way of finding a solution is to fight back, to move, to run, and to control that pressure” – Rafael Nadal
“From what we get, we can make a living. What we give; however, makes a life.” – Arthur Ashe
“In terms of playing ability there is nothing to choose between number one and 100. Instead, it’s a question of who believes and who wants it more? Which player is mentally stronger? Which player is going to fight the hardest in the big points? These are the things that determine who is the champion.” – Novak Djokovic
“If you lose, it hurts, but as long as you have fought hard, you can still feel good about yourself.” – Ivan Lendl
“I’ve been motivated by overcoming challenge and overcoming the hurdles and obstacles that face me. There still is plenty out there to get motivated by.” – Andre Agassi
“It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.” – Roger Federer
“When you start from nothing, when you come from nothing, it makes you hungry. I am proud of where I came from and I know what I want. I want to win.” – Maria Sharapova
“Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work. I had to put in the time to get back. And it was a grind. It meant training and sweating every day. But I was completely committed to working out to prove to myself that I still could do it.” – Andre Agassi
“I have always considered tennis as a combat in an arena between two gladiators who have their racquets and their courage as their weapons.” – Yannick Noah
“The ideal attitude is to be physically loose and mentally tight.” – Arthur Ashe
“It’s not the time to look for excuses.” – Rafael Nadal
“Dreams do come true if you keep believing in yourself. Anything is possible.” – Jennifer Capriati
“Train until your legs hurt.” – David Ferrer
“What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.” – 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
“It is very important not to think about losing.” – Venus Williams
“Tennis is a perfect combination of violent action taking place in an atmosphere of total tranquility.” – Billie Jean King
“It’s no accident, I think, that 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. Even the structure of tennis, the way the pieces fit inside one another like Russian nesting dolls, mimics the structure of our days. Points become games become sets become tournaments, and it’s all so tightly connected that any point can become the turning point. It reminds me of the way seconds become minutes become hours, and any hour can be our finest. Or darkest. It’s our choice.” – Andre Agassi
“Sportsmanship for me is when a guy walks off the court and you really can’t tell whether he won or lost, when he carries himself with pride either way.” – Jim Courier
“I made it look so easy on court all those years. No one realized how hard I had to work. No one realized how much I had to put into it. They underestimated my intensity.” – Pete Sampras
“Everything is possible in this life.” – Marat Safin
“I’ve had to learn to fight all my life – got to learn to keep smiling. If you smile things will work out.” – Serena Williams
“The difference of great players is at a certain point in a match they raise their level of play and maintain it. Lesser players play great for a set.” – Pete Sampras
“That’s what tennis is all about. Anything can happen. Until the end of the match, you can’t really say it’s done.” – David Ferrer
“You’ve got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference.” – Chris Evert
“Find something that you’re really interested in doing in your life. Pursue it, set goals, and commit yourself to excellence. Do the best you can.” – Chris Evert
“Losing is not my enemy… fear of losing is my enemy.” – Rafael Nadal
“The fifth set is not about tennis, it’s about nerves.” – Boris Becker
“At one point in your life, you’ll have the thing you want or the reasons why you don’t.” – Andy Roddick
“Give it everything you’ve got. Leave nothing out there.” – Andy Murray
“If you don’t practice you don’t deserve to win.” – Andre Agassi
“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 never look back, I look forward.” – Steffi Graf
“What I think I’ve been able to do well over the years is play with pain, play with problems, play in all sorts of conditions.” – Roger Federer
“We only have one life and one body to care of, and we better do it right. You never know what tomorrow may bring and so we better live this life the best we can and be grateful for everything we have.” – Novak Djokovic
“If you’re losing, just be a man; be a man and lose as a man.” – Marat Safin
“You have to find it. No one else can find it for you.” – Bjorn Borg
“Everyone’s dream can come true if you just stick to it and work hard.” – Serena Williams
“You don’t have to hate your opponents to beat them.” – Kim Clijsters
“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” – Arthur Ashe
“The great part about tennis is you can’t run out the clock. As long as we were still playing, I had a chance.” – Andre Agassi
“I’m not afraid of anyone, but sometimes I’m afraid of myself. The mental part is very important.” – Justine Henin
“Some people say that I have an attitude. Maybe I do. But I think that you have to. You have to believe in yourself when no one else does. That makes you a winner right there.” – Venus Williams
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
“Tennis is a mental game. Everyone is fit, everyone hits great forehands and backhands.” – Novak Djokovic
“Control the things you can control.” – Sam Stosur
“My greatest point is my persistence. I never give up in a match. However down I am, I fight until the last ball. My list of matches shows that I have turned a great many so-called irretrievable defeats into victories.” – Bjorn Borg
“I fear no one, but respect everyone.” – Roger Federer
A couple of dozen more tennis quotes:
