Jim Courier Quotes

I think all of us are shaped by the choices we make.

Focusing on one thing can be tough, and people with fewer options are more apt to concentrate on what they're doing. There's probably something to hunger.

Fear is an interesting energy that we all have to face. Some people step up and aren't afraid but still come up short. And some would rather cop out: "My shoulder hurts" or "I didn't give it my all." They can sleep at night.

What I've seen historically is winning is a major aloe. It solves a lot of problems.

There's plenty of anecdotal evidence that most champions are born into certain environments and encouraged early. Then, later on, they might get some assistance from their federations.

We lose a lot of young athletes because tennis is such a difficult sport. It's not like kicking a soccer ball.

There's no evidence that says that the money a federation has translates into success. I hope that that will change.

You'd have to think that if he'd been around today, Rod Laver would have been Rod Laver.

One of Nadal’s strengths is that he’s so humble, that he’s surprised at what he has achieved, and that he has never bought into his greatness.

We have a lot of options. America is a great country.

The airplane has had a big impact on my life.

You can look directly at the NFL and see how successful they've become because they have central control, central voice, and it doesn't mean that the owners don't have a say, but the commissioner runs it, and he's the one who speaks for them when they go out and do commercial deals.

I think there's no reason the Davis Cup couldn't be as powerful and popular and profitable as any of the four majors are today, given some changes.

There used to be a lot more politics in the Olympics, when the Soviet Bloc committed a lot of resources for propaganda purposes.

The dumber you are on court, the better you're going to play.

There's a reason why Federer and Nadal are so gracious when they lose. They sleep well at night knowing that they've given their best.

I've been lucky enough to primarily work for myself over the years.

Tennis is more than just shots. It's about being clutch and beating the people on the other side of the net.

When your four biggest tournaments all operate relatively independently, and the ATP and WTA tour operate independently, and you have Davis Cup and Fed Cup that operate independently, it makes it a tough message.

Many books have been written about what the X-factor is, what separates people who win big matches versus those who struggle. Some of it's innate, but there's a piece of it that's learned, embracing those moments.

Flying has opened up new horizons for tennis.

There are certainly great cities in America that don't have ATP and WTA events. Our fans are very provincial. They want American champions.

America is the world's policemen, whether you and I like that or not. That's a fact. People globally feel that.

You can kick a ball into the net, throw a basketball into the net. Tennis is complicated. It'll make a lot of great athletes run the other way because they can't be successful initially.

I am there to play tennis and represent the U.S., but I'm also aware that not everyone's going to be able to think that way.

The first thing I would do is create one office that controlled all of pro tennis so you had one central voice that spoke for tennis. Central governance is something that's really held the sport back and will continue to do so.

I really try not to read the tennis articles, because a lot of times they're guessing at how a player is feeling, and I like to keep myself kind of open minded about how I'm feeling, rather than have someone else explain to me what's going on.

If you don't want to practice, unless you have a hard-nosed coach, you don't have to.

What separates the winners from the losers is that they can deal with doing their best while still coming up short.

You need to make sure everyone is healthy first and foremost.

It does take a great hunger to be successful at anything.

You need to look to make a cohesive calendar that makes sense and helps elongate the careers of your players as opposed to shorten them inadvertently.

The reason I didn't take the baseball route is because they don't have rankings for baseball players.

Even the poor can be fat in the U.S.

It's really easy to find your friends when you're playing away. You have a close-knit group with you and everyone else is cheering hard for their side. There's more satisfaction coming away with a road victory.

It's unfair to expect the USTA, just because they make this pot of money, to just snap their fingers and make champions. It's not simple, and anyone who thinks it is hasn't really looked underneath the hood to see how the engine works.

What I like about the USTA is that it's developing systems to help the coaches coach better.

I'm not suggesting that the entire nation can't be successful, but there's something to it when you have 150 cable channels and the Internet at your fingertips and video games and all kinds of ADD-addled devices like my iPhone and your BlackBerry and things that keep us busy.

Hell be lucky to last five or six years on those knees. What it might have to come down to is playing less on hard surfaces and playing more on forgiving surfaces.

It is very dangerous to have your self-worth riding on your results as an athlete.

Sports 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.

I knew I was the second-best tennis player in the state of Florida and No. 8 in the United States of America when I was 12 years old and I couldn't tell you what I was in baseball, but I liked my chances in tennis of getting a scholarship to college.

I will do everything in my power to make sure people are aware that our team is out there fighting the good fight for the tennis fans of the United States.

Trophies separate the winners from losers, and life is about winning and losing. Go into business and you see. You're competing every day.

It's hard for anyone in the 24-hour news cycles that we all live in now to follow something that the first round is played in March and the final finishes in December. I understand the challenges there.

I think the Davis Cup has some untapped potential. It should be as prominent as the Grand Slams when it takes place. If you put it together with Fed Cup for an organized, nationalistic team competition taking place in a central location for two weeks, I think that would be beneficial from a fan interest stand point, from a media stand point and from a television stand point.

There is a lot of pressure on tennis players like other sports that are singular like you're not on a team. When all the pressure rides on your shoulders, it can be a lot different. Team sports you share those moments with the teammates. You share the pressures. You share the wins. You share the losses. You have a coach that can change the course of matches. But in tennis you're out there by yourself. There are no caddies. There are no coaches. You do it alone in the arena and I think that ups the ante a little bit.

Getting to number one in the world without a coach is highly unlikely.