Ivan Lendl

“Many Czech people are very talented. They can do many things, but when they get to a certain level, they are satisfied. I am not like that, thank God.”

“Tennis is not like other sports where the coach is hired by an independent entity, and that makes a huge difference in the dynamic.”

“But it's very difficult, I can tell you I played the Czech Open a few times and it's very difficult just to go on to a scene where the course is prepared differently when the greens are fast and he's not used to it and they're hard as a rock and he's not used to it.”

“I was between 2 and 3 in the world for two, three years. That's not exactly where I wanted to be.”

“It's very nice to see when somebody who wanted to work hard and is willing to put the work in gets rewarded for it.”

“I just travel all the time. And I was just looking at the schedules now and starting the first week of October I will be every weekend with somebody at tournaments through Christmas. So it gets very difficult to just go away and not do that.”

“If you become great, then you can become happy. If you're happy first, it's much more difficult to be great.”

“You have to focus on the process. You cannot be glued to the results.”

“If you go to school and practice for five days a week, it still gives you two days you can go and see your friends, you can go to the movies, you do whatever you like to do.”

“Too many people asking too many questions in tennis. Golf is better.”

“People may say I developed an iron will, but what really happened is that I made myself much fitter. I think an iron will is always supported by fitness.”

“In tennis you move a lot. Golf you don't. In tennis, you can have a bad half-hour, but you can't in golf. You can lose the first set in tennis and still win.”

“I don't make a habit of watching tennis matches, but I try to watch all the major finals. I try to make time for that. So unless I have something going with the kids where I can't, I try to watch, and I enjoy that.”

“I got bad calls every match, and I never got an apology. So I thought it was rather strange.”

“If I don't practice the way I should, then I won't play the way that I know I can.”

“I certainly don't lose any sleep if I lose a tennis match.”

“My serve and my forehand I pretty much always had, but my backhand was a made backhand. I worked on it for years.”

“You know, you just go out there, do your best. Sometimes it's good enough and sometimes it is, and sometimes it stays your only one and sometimes you win bunch others behind it.”

“It's flattering to be compared in any way to Tiger Woods, because he's the best player in the world.”

“Tennis is basically a game where you try to create an opportunity for yourself to finish the point, because you can't wait for the opponent to miss anymore. Well, if you create an opportunity and don't take advantage of it, you let the opponent back to even, then you are just starting the point over, so you have to take advantage of them.”