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

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

Wherever I am when you feel sick at heart and weary of life, or when you stumble and fall and don’t know if you can get up again, think of me. I will be watching and smiling and cheering you on.

Some folks call tennis a rich people's sport or a white person's game. I guess I started too early because I just thought it was something fun to do. Later, I discovered there was a lot of work to being good in tennis. You've got to make a lot of sacrifices and spend a lot of time if you really want to achieve with this sport, or in any sport, or in anything truly worthwhile.

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

I don't want to be remembered for my tennis accomplishments.

Racism is not an excuse to not do the best you can.