ATPWorldTour.com looks back on the year in the words of those who made it all happen. Here’s the wit, the wisdom (and some occasional wackiness) from today’s top players, our Top 100 Quotes of 2015. Our first installment, Nos. 1-50:
1. “It’s the best year of my life, no question about it.” — Novak Djokovic
2. “Once you find that peace, that place of peace and quiet, harmony and confidence, that’s when you start playing your best.” — Roger Federer
3. “You don’t play someone’s reputation.” — John Millman on the prospect of facing Roger Federer in Brisbane
4. “I’m always sort of looking in the mirror and saying, ‘That’s who I have to compare myself to: to myself.’” — Milos Raonic
5. “My brother is telling me that ‘Anything is Pospisil’ is trending on Twitter. That’s always nice to hear.” — Vasek Pospisil
6. “I feel more comfortable living in Japan. They have much better food.” — Kei Nishikori
7. “It’s important to know your limitations as a player so you don’t pull off shots that are totally stupid.” — Roger Federer
8. “I like all the surfaces, to be honest. I don’t discriminate any of them.” — Grigor Dimitrov
9. “Pressure is part of what we do. It’s always present.” — Novak Djokovic
10. “I was never pegged to be the next great American tennis player by any means. I wasn’t a prodigy. I’m a late-bloomer. Whatever happens, I’m proud of what I’ve done.” — John Isner
11. “I was assured that it’s gluten-free, it’s not processed, completely organic and natural and I could eat it.” — Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic on the Centre Court grass at the All England Club
12. “Nobody had ever touched a tennis racquet in my family, so it was a sign of destiny. God and life have arranged things for me to play this sport.” — Novak Djokovic
13. “Was the guy from One Direction here?” — Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Queen’s Club
14. “One thing I do have is guts. I will go for it. My whole life is about perseverance, just trying to find a way to succeed. Sometimes the chips are against you; sometimes they fool you.” — Leander Paes
15. “Scared? I don’t like this word. I don’t like to say we have fear. There are moments when it’s more difficult than others when we are looking for solutions, but we are not scared. We are not afraid.” — Gael Monfils
16. “From when you walk onto the court, you start every match as equal.” — Andy Murray
17. “It’s this crazy number. It’s just so long and it looks so good, looks so great, so grand and everything. Now we’re on to 2,000, right?” — Roger Federer, who reached the 1,000-win milestone in Brisbane
18. “Twenty-seven titles: Brugnon, Lacoste, Borotra, Cochet — oh là là.” — Pierre-Hughes Herbert on France’s legendary Four Musketeers, who combined for 27 Grand Slam doubles championships
19. “I love the back-against-the-wall situation.” — Lleyton Hewitt
20. “I’ve won much more than I ever dreamed.” — Rafael Nadal
21. “I don’t like revenge. It doesn’t come from positive emotion.” — Novak Djokovic
22. “I won’t be turning into Novak anytime soon.” — John Isner on his return game
23. “I have two lives, and all the problems I might have, I feel like I drop them once I step on to the match court.” — Roger Federer
24. “‘If’ doesn’t exist in sport.” — Rafael Nadal
25. “You go through the pain barrier out there on the court.” — Lleyton Hewitt
26. “Try your best. Fight hard until the last point. That’s all that you can do on the court.” — Tomas Berdych
27. “There are no shortcuts. Play your best tennis, give your heart out and anything can happen.” — Grigor Dimitrov
28. “You cannot shy away from entering the long, grueling points and moving your opponent side to side and him doing the same with you. If you’re scared of that, you won’t go very far.” — Roger Federer
29. “It’s simple: just keep fighting and keep believing; try not to show weakness out there.” — John Isner
30. “Success is being happy. It’s not about winning every single tournament.” — Andy Murray
31. “When you win, when you lose, it’s not because of the racquet. Never. It’s because of yourself.” — Rafael Nadal
32. “Tennis is a funny sport sometimes; you can be up winning, and all of a sudden it can change with one shot.” — Bernard Tomic
33. “I’m not trying to be anyone else. I’m just myself.” — Nick Kyrgios
34. “I’m a country boy. I always wanted to play on the big courts. That was my dream. Now I’m living that dream.” — Sam Groth
35. “Tennis is an extremely difficult sport.” — Andy Murray
36. “In this sport you always can fall down.” — Rafael Nadal
37. “The serve is the only thing you know about yourself when you play tennis. Nobody can touch you when you serve. Nobody can disturb you. You have the ball in hand.” — Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
38. “If you enjoy the sport, respect the game, the game will give back to you.” — Bernard Tomic
39. “For me, a finalist trophy is not the same. Everybody knows that.” — Roger Federer
40. “We shouldn’t spend too many words about him. We all know how good he is. He’s the greatest ever.” — Novak Djokovic on Roger Federer
41. “Sometimes you make mistakes, but it’s important to get out of those crisis times as soon as possible.” — Novak Djokovic
42. “Let’s make another 500, you know? Let’s try to chase Roger now.” — Tomas Berdych after winning his 500th career match in Dubai
43. “Every day is a different day. Every day is a chance for me to improve.” — Rafael Nadal
44. “You can lose concentration at any time in a match. We, as humans, do that all the time, and it’s really about how quickly you can get it back.” — Andy Murray
45. “He does everything the best. That’s why he’s No. 1 in the world. There is no surface he’s a slouch on.” — John Isner on Novak Djokovic
46. “The game is bigger than any athletes we’ve ever had.” — Roger Federer
47. “You are the hunted one.” — Novak Djokovic on life at No. 1
48. “Sometimes your game is not there.” — Grigor Dimitrov
49. “It’s not so simple to just stay in the moment and trust your game and your strength that you can turn it around.” — Roger Federer
50. “I believe in old-school hard work.” — Roger Federer
