John Newcombe
John Newcombe
John David Newcombe, AO, OBEis a former tennis player from Australia who won seven Grand Slam singles titles and an all-time record 17 doubles titles. He is one of the few men to have been ranked world No. 1 in both singles and doubles. He also contributed to five Davis Cup titles for Australia during an age when Davis Cup was deemed as significant as the Grand Slams. Tennis Magazine ranked Newcombe the 10th best male player of the period...
NationalityAustralian
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth23 May 1944
CountryAustralia
By the time I got to the hospital, I certainly realised that I had a problem because I couldn't write or print at that time, which lasted luckily only about four months. I'd gone numb here and on my tongue and the right foot a little bit.
A few of us who are around the sixty mark don't play that much these days and if you are taking on a couple of guys in their forties it is very difficult.
That match was late evening and I had the experience of the electricity of the Centre Court because it was packed, a full house for the whole match. It had been a great year for me, first time there and I had the full taste of Wimbledon.
I wouldn't, a little bit frightened but throughout my life I'd learnt that when you're in the serious situations, you've got to try to stay calm. Because that's the way you get out of them.
You know, I eat, I ate pretty well anyway so, I'm basically living the same, I just curtailed the stupidity.
At Wimbledon, the ladies are simply the candles on the cake.
Your game is only as good as your second serve
It's actually what I consider legalised cheating because one of the great senses that you have on a tennis court is your ability to hear the ball come off your opponent's strings [on Sharapova grunting
There was kind of a code that you had as an Australian that you never left the court losing unless you had blood all over you. That's the sort of toughness you need to compete on the world stage and I feel that our kids today just don't have it.
The strongest and most dangerous enemy you will ever face is a negative attitude. Learn to recognize when it is trying to invade your body and mind, then simply refuse it entry.
People think this is all about the top players hitting tenins balls and they talk about technique and strategy and how important that is. But they don't understand the essence of competition. This is one-on-one, two players out there fighting each other with everything they have, trying to bring the best out of themselves. And the difference at this level of the game is all in the head and in the heart.
So there was a fire inside me. And that fire inside you, it can be turned into a negative form or a positive form. And I gradually realised that I had this fire and that it had to be used in a positive way.
In the morning of course, I'd have to, John would have to go round and apologise to everyone for what Jack had done or said to them.
In all honesty, Agassi was a great player before Brad game along. I think Brad probably helped Andre maintain his standard at a high level and they worked well together. The situation with Roddick, it was becoming evident that he wasn't getting to the next level. All of us could see that and there were parts of his game that were immature. Now bringing Brad on board, he's been able to mature that side of the game.