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.

Jimmy Connors

Categorized in : Thinking Past Winning

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

Jimmy Connors

motivation softball sports

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

Jimmy Connors

tennis things-in-life winning

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.

Jimmy Connors

tennis track focus

[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...

Jimmy Connors

roger clay games

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

tennis problem education

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.

Jimmy Connors

squash war people

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

Jimmy Connors

ran tennis lost

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.

Jimmy Connors

real names ideas

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.

Jimmy Connors

tennis love sports

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.

Jimmy Connors

outsiders care way

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.

Jimmy Connors

hug kissing real

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

Jimmy Connors

ems two way

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.

Jimmy Connors

cocky tired player

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

Jimmy Connors

opinion guy today

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.

Jimmy Connors

tennis wish play

I've been kicked in the teeth more times in tennis than the law ought to allow.

Jimmy Connors

teeth tennis law

That's something a lot of athletes miss - a lot of them walk away too soon. They don't get everything out of their system. They have a lot of what-ifs when they're sitting around later in life. I don't have that. I got all that out of my system. I pushed it to the brink, I loved it, and when I walked away, I'd had enough.

Jimmy Connors

later-in-life athlete missing

Nothing is like being out there and playing and performing and winning - nothing. But to have an interest in the player? The nerves and everything that goes with it? Seeing what he's learned and how he's done it? That's the second best thing to playing. I think.

Jimmy Connors

player winning thinking

I hate to lose more than I love to win.

Jimmy Connors

tennis hate winning

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

Jimmy Connors

tennis battle fun