In the field of sports you are more or less accepted for what you do rather than what you are.

I don't want to be put on a pedestal. I just want to be reasonably successful and live a normal life with all the conveniences to make it so.

No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you.

From 143rd Street in Harlem to the center court at Wimbledon is about as far as one can travel.

I hope that I have accomplished just one thing: that I have been a credit to tennis and my country.

Shaking hands with the Queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the colored section of the bus going into downtown Wilmington, North Carolina.

The loser is always a part of the problem; the winner is always a part of the answer. The loser always has an excuse; the winner always has a program. The loser says it may be possible, but it's difficult; the winner says it may be difficult, but it's possible.