Tennis Mindset Quotes

I'm not the next Kournikova-I want to win matches!

People say I'm cold, that I'm impersonal on the court. Well, let me tell you, it's blood and guts out there.

Confidence? Are you kidding me? I mean, please. Look, some players grow up and play like that. I remember losing junior matches. Just being down 5-2 in the third, and they all just start slapping shots.

Tennis is one of the only sports in America where the sport doesn't grow with the size of the person - it just forces you to swallow the whole pill.

It's shocking how little there is to do with tennis when you're just thinking about nothing except winning every point.

I work differently. I enjoy creating a space around me and not getting too high or too low. But I am continuously looking to get better - not just as a tennis player but also as a person dealing with new experiences.

I just try to win the match by fighting for every point, and running down every ball.

Maybe I have to work a bit harder on clay. It's a challenge and I've always liked challenges. Whether I will ever win the French and master playing on clay, who knows? But I'll give it a shot.

For me, losing a tennis match isn't failure, it's research.

I look to constantly be a better version of myself every time I step out on court. That has come out with some good wins and good things on paper, but if my ranking were to drop or to rise, it wouldn't affect my goals or how I want to keep improving.

I'm a tennis fan, so I like Roger Federer. He's always two or three steps ahead, so he's hitting a shot, but he's also thinking about the next two shots. So I try to be in that frame of mind - to always be ahead.

As soon as I step on the court I just try to play tennis and don't find excuses. You know, I just lost because I lost, not because my arm was sore.

I just go out there and fight for every point, and then we see how far I can go.

I learned to absolutely love the feeling of winning a tough match on a tough point or figuring out how to come back when I was down and win ugly. Walking off the court with a W just made me so happy.

Even when I was No. 1 in the world, I was taking it one match at a time. I never was a player to look too far ahead, the way draws can pan out.

I just try to stay positive and focused on the tennis, not let anything get to me, like crazy questions. But I'm tough, let me tell you, tough as nails.

You have to believe on the court. In the end, it's mental. In these moments against a great champion like Rafa, you have to believe. It's all about stepping in and taking your chances. I always believed, but it's a process of learning.

Now I've probably got to be more aggressive and pick up where [Marbury] left off, but I'm just going to take it how it comes. I'm not going to force it. I'm going to let the game come to me.

I think it's normal that, the first time you meet Federer or Murray or Djokovic, you're going to get nervous. But after a while, they become normal opponents, people you see every week. That's the way you have to think. You can't think of them as legends. When you see someone on court, you have to treat every opponent the same way.

I'm very easy-going off court, but I really want to win once I'm walking on to the court.

I was a little bit lost in my head after winning a Grand Slam. You're like: 'So what's the next goal? What do you want now? Where do you want to be? It's not a problem if you lose.'

I am disappointed when I lose and don't play well, for example. But it is not so disappointing to lose when you play good. And I never feel I want to put the racquet down and walk away because of losing.

One of the biggest things I've worked on is how to play my best tennis every single time I walk on to the court.

My on-court temperament is totally to just win and destroy.

All my life I'd woken up to tennis, tennis, tennis. Even if I don't go to practise, I'm thinking about it all day.