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Quote Archives
( Photo credit: Art Seitz ©2009 )
Ana Ivanovic
November, 2004 - February, 2005
February 18, 2005:"Public
opinion was in my head, that I would never win another
major. I didn't think I could. My coach convinced me
I could do it again. That's why this is my most special
win. Beating Sampras was a mistake. I had nothing to
lose. Nobody really cared. Even if I would lose in three
sets, people would say, 'Great tournament, you played
great-but he's Pete Sampras.' No pressure. Then the
pressure came."
-- Marat Safin, 2005 Australian
Open champion, 25, confiding about his doubts ever
since winning the 2000 U.S. Open by annihilating Pete
Sampras.
February 13, 2005:: "It
also feels good, because people say you can't act and
can't design [clothing] and win Slams. So that's also
special, because I just finished a TV show and just did
a fashion show on the 15th of December, which was crazy.
I couldn't even practice the last six days before I did
it, because I was working so hard."
-- Serena Williams, who rebutted her critics by winning the 2005 Australian Open
despite having her pre-tournament training reduced to less than three weeks
because of a torn abdominal muscle and her other careers.
February 1, 2005:: "I
just get so nervous, get so uptight because it's last
match. You understand the situation. It's the last match,
you have to give your best, and I don't want to lose it
because then it's like nobody cares about the finalist
basically. To be finalist the third time and not winning
a Grand Slam, it will be like really disappointment huge
one. So for me, that win was just a kind of a relief."
-- Marat Safin, who had lost his
two previous Australian Open finals,
explaining the great pressure he felt against Lleyton
Hewitt in the 2005 final
February 1, 2005::
"I just hate to lose. When I am on the court, it
is like my life depends on it."
-- Serena Williams, on her fierce
competitiveness, after winning the Australian Open
for her seventh Grand Slam title
January 23, 2005::
"After the breakthrough in women's doubles, we will look to improve in women's singles. Then the men's game, until we have orderly, full-scale reform. This is similar to the theory put forward by our former leader, Deng Xiaoping, to allow some of the people to get rich first, as this leads to the whole country eventually becoming rich."
-- Zhang Xianing, the Chinese
Tennis Association vice-director, on China's tennis
development strategy, following Li Ting and
Sun Tian Tian's shocking doubles gold medal
coup at the Athens Olympics, in The Times (UK).
January 16, 2005::
"Within a few years the name 'Maria Sharapova' will be
a brand as universally recognized as Calvin Klein, BMW and Rolex."
-- Max Eisenbud, IMG manager of the comely, 17-year-old Wimbledon champion
January 2, 2005::
"We thought this was a way to bring tennis back to the
people. We're not the NBA or the NFL with this huge
marketing machine behind us. It's not like there's a
home crowd you know will come to all the games. In tennis
a lot of [the promotion] is up to the individual players."
-- Andy Roddick, world No. 2,
who with fellow Davis Cuppers Mardy Fish, Bob Bryan
and Mike Bryan, rented a bus, drove around Middle
America and played exhibitions and held clinics at
public tennis complexes for a week in December, talking
to Sports Illustrated.
December 13, 2004:: "It goes back to the days when I was a kid
and we called out our own lines. I was taught if there's a doubt, don't call it in, if there's not a doubt call it out."
-- John McEnroe, 45 and competing on the Delta Tour of
Champions, with an implausible rationale when asked about
his ethos on questioning calls during his tumultuous career.
December 1, 2004: "You know what I just can't stand any more? People who come up to me in the street and say 'Congratulations on Justine's win.' I can't bear it. They know we don't talk, but they still feel they have to say it. I don't feel part of this anymore, but I still can't help watching her big matches on TV."
-- Jose Henin, so hurt by a
family feud that left him and his two sons estranged
from his daughter, Justine Henin-Hardenne,
that he has turned to heavy drinking, talking to The
Mail on Sunday.
November 15, 2004: "Our
media is probably the worst in the world. Unfortunately,
that's part of our culture. When you speak to tennis
journalists, you notice how little they understand.
I started asking technical and tactical questions, and
it was embarrassing. I was embarrassed for them. They
knew nothing, they knew nothing about the game. I've
never been influenced by their opinions anyway, but
now we are talking tennis and they didn't know anything."
--British star Tim Henman,
commenting to the Swiss press
during the Basel tournament.
November 1, 2004: "He's
so hot. I've got a new man, and I'm head over heels
in love. I adore him."
-- Actress-heiress Paris Hilton,
on Australian tennis hunk Mark Philippoussis, who
had been dating Aussie pop star Delta Goodrem for
the past 10 months.
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