WRITING CLERIHEWS: CINCINNATI CELEBRITIES

Dear George, 

A clerihew is a short funny poem about a famous person. The form was invented by poet Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956) when, at age 16, he was bored in a science class. Rules are simple. Clerihews are four lines long. The first line names a person, and the second line rhymes with the first. Also the third and fourth lines rhyme with each other (i.e., an AABB rhyme pattern). A good clerihew captures something of a person’s character or reputation. The main aim is to sum up an entire life through one incident or detail, making fun of the person. Clerihews are not intended to be rude, but rather are amusing and/or silly. Lines can be any length, and one needn’t use rhythm. W.H. Auden is among the many poets who have written clerihews. Here are some of the clerihews I’ve written about Cincinnati celebrities, current and past. 

Love, 

Dave 

The Bengals’ head coach is Zack Taylor 

Has the mindset of Vlad the Impaler 

Zack draws up the plays for Joe Burrow 

Blazing rockets shot straight down the furrow 

Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel 

Attracted a hip clientele 

The crown prince of French cuisine 

He knew what to do with a bean 

A living legend, hometown hero Pete Rose 

Had gambling debts up to his nose 

Banned for life from the Hall of Fame 

Pete fortunately is impervious to shame 

We all of us remember Nick Clooney 

A most charming man, slightly goony 

Was he likeable?, believe it, Mister 

Though less famous than his son or his sister 

Channel 5’s a.m. star was Paul Dixon 

Way back in those days of R. Nixon 

Paul teased the front row about their knees 

Gave Bonnie Lou and Colleen a squeeze 

Our Reds star these days is Joey Votto 

Hitting better is what Joey ought to 

’Twas a worse than lackluster season 

The wise guys say old age is the reason 

UC’s prez is Dr. Neville Pinto 

Engineering’s the field he’s been into 

Neville’s minions — fifty thousand young students 

All but ten are chronic impudents 

The Reds were once owned by Marge Schott 

Fans prayed that she’d sweeten the pot 

Stupid thoughts about Hitler and Blacks 

But her players soft-pedaled the attacks 

The Bearcats’ best coach was Luke Fickell 

But Luke left the team in a pickle 

Wisconsin wooed our Luke away 

Eight million, hard to say neigh 

The sheriff for years was Simon Leis 

A tough nut who ruled by caprice 

No one ever called Simon humane 

Since his treatments were spankings and pain 

The worst native son is Charlie Manson 

Who was famed at Walnut Hills for his dancin’ 

Manson ordered his groupies to kill 

And they all seemed to think it a thrill 

My first love was Miss Doris Day 

Though Rock Hudson got in my way 

Doris was guileless and pure 

Not to mention her golden coiffure 

Cincy’s cowpoke, a Rogers named Roy 

Such a hero to me as a boy 

Roy would have a shootout with some goon 

Then would croon by the light of the moon

A LETTER TO AARON RODGERS

 

Dear Aaron, 

I’ve thought about writing a letter to you in the past. I grew up fifty miles north of Green Bay, and, aside from God, family, and country, people in my home town worship the Green Bay Packers. I followed Don Hutson in grade school, cheered rabidly for the Packers during the Lombardi Super Bowl era, and have been thrilled by the team’s resurgence during Brett Favre’s and your tenures as quarterback. In addition to your world-class athletic skills, I’ve also respected you as an intelligent, articulate person with good values and a sense of humor. Needless to say, I’ve been confused and disappointed by the recent uproar regarding your choice to not get a Covid-19 vaccination. You’ve expressed your desire to have a conversation about the issue rather than continued confrontation and hostility. Hence, this letter. 

Here is my understanding of the situation. While the NFL encourages vaccinations, it does not require them of players Approximately 5% of players have chosen not to get vaccinated, and there hasn’t been much hullabaloo about this. According to NFL rules, unvaccinated players are required to be tested daily and to wear masks when in public situations. When you were asked if you were vaccinated on the weekly radio show on which you appear, you replied, “Yeah, I’m immunized.” As you subsequently acknowledged, this was a misleading statement since you haven’t been vaccinated with any of the approved Covid-19 vaccines. Regarding mask-wearing, you’ve said, citing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that you consider this to be an unjust rule and have deliberately chosen not to follow it in various situations. 

 The most widespread criticism of your behavior has to do with judgments that you lied to the public about being vaccinated. While you claim that you were telling the truth that you’ve been immunized (by an alternative homeopathic treatment), you have acknowledged and taken responsibility for misleading people with your statement. Personally, I think you made an unfortunate mistake in the radio interview, and owning up to it is the best course available. (You should have just said that you’d chosen to do an alternative treatment.) 

 A further issue is the nature of the treatment you have undergone. The main component is ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug used to treat intestinal worms and lice in horses. However, the Food and Drug Administration has not authorized ivermectin for use against Covid-19, stating that there is no evidence of its effectiveness in combatting the disease and that use of large doses in humans can cause comas and seizures. You indicate that a major influence in your decision was advice from podcast host Joe Rogan, but, of course, Rogan has no medical expertise. Nor does Fox News host Laura Ingraham, another major proponent of ivermectin. From a medical and scientific standpoint, there don’t seem to be adequate grounds for your decision. Consistent with this, the NFL rejected your appeal to have your alternative treatment accepted as a substitute for Covid vaccines. 

 You’ve also argued that “personal health decisions in my opinion should be private.” While this sounds almost self-evident, it’s also the case that, with a world-famous figure like yourself, health decisions can have significant consequences for teammates, loved ones, the many persons you come into contact with, and millions of fans. That’s neither personal nor private. One concrete example is your being excluded from the Kansas City game because of a positive Covid test, a Packers loss which the team might well have won if you’d been vaccinated and eligible to play. You’ve stated that “I’m not, you know, some sort of anti-vax, flat-earther.” But your public statements have given impetus to the “anti-vax, flat-earther” movement. According to recent CDC data, unvaccinated people are 6 times as likely to contract Covid-19, 10 times as likely to be hospitalized, and 11 times as likely to die from it, compared to vaccinated people. Recommending and modeling non-vaccination to the general public by someone of your celebrity increases the likelihood of infection, hospitalization, and death in the general population. 

My sense is that you’ve been surprised and distressed by the media controversy regarding your health choices and would have much preferred that these matters had remained private. It’s as though you’ve been caught up in a furor not entirely of your own making, and I sympathize with that. What to do about it is a puzzle. You could, of course, opt to be vaccinated and make that information public. I’m struck by the fact that none of your public statements advocate vaccination for the general public. Since your own reasons for an alternative treatment are idiosyncratic (i.e., your report of an allergy to an ingredient in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines), I personally think that you could draw upon the great bulk of scientific information available and encourage others to get vaccinated. I hope you consider this possibility and change tactics. 

Sincerely yours, 

David L

Wimbledon Eve

DEAR GEORGE, Wimbledon is the world’s oldest tennis tournament, dating back to 1877 at the All England Club in suburban London. It has the distinction of being the only Grand Slam tournament played on grass courts. (There are four Grand Slams: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.) This year’s Wimbledon has special significance since the tournament was cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic, its only cancellation since World War II. Americans aren’t as dominant as they were years ago. There are no American men seeded in the top 25, and only 3 seeded at all — Reilly Opelka at 27; John Isner, 28; and Taylor Fritz, 31. American women did better: Sofia Kenin, 4; Serena Williams, 6; Coco Gauff, 20; Jessica Pegula, 22; Madison Keys, 23; and Allson Riske, 28.

Two legendary players, members of the old guard, are seeking to add to their remarkable Wimbledon records. With 8 previous tournament victories, Roger Federer, age 39, has the best Wimbledon record of any man in the open era, and a ninth title this year would tie him with Martina Navratilova for the most of all times. However, no man over age 35 has ever won Wimbledon. Despite his two knee surgeries and a year of rehabilitation, fellow players and tennis experts aren’t counting Federer out. Second seed Daniil Medvedev observed, “I think Wimbledon is always — even when he will be 50 years old — a great chance for him.” The tournament also has historical implications for American super-star, Serena Williams. With her formidable serve and powerful groundstrokes, Williams’ game is perfectly suited for grass-court tennis, and she has won Wimbledon 14 times in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. At age 39 and seeded 6th, she needs one more victory to tie her with Margaret Court for the all-time Grand Slam victory total of 24, and she’s been pursuing that milestone since coming back from childbirth in 2017.

Novak Djokovic is the clear men’s favorite this year. A five-time Wimbledon winner, if he wins the tournament this year, it will be his 20th Grand Slam title and put him in a three-way tie with Federer and Rafael Nadal. Djokovic’s aspirations are entirely clear. After the French Open in May he commented, “I don’t have an issue to say that I’m going for the title in Wimbledon. Of course, I am.” Having already won the Australian Open and the French Open this year, Djokovic is in a position to win a calendar Grand Slam of all four major tournaments (if he wins at Wimbledon and the US Open), a feat no male player has accomplished in the last 51 years.

Not all the top players are playing. Rafael Nadal, currently number three in the world and a member of the Big Three who have dominated men’s tennis since 2003 (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic), recently withdrew from Wimbledon A two-time winner on Wimbledon’s grass courts, Nadal lost in a thrilling five-set French Open finals last month to Novak Djokovic, and, at age 34, he said he was “listening to his body” and forgoing Wimbledon to “prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy.” Another of my favorites, Naomi Osaka, the No. 2 ranked women’s tennis player in the world, announced on June 17 that she was withdrawing from Wimbledon. According to a statement released by her agent, “She is taking some personal time with friends and family She will be ready for the Olympics and is excited to play in front of her home fans [in Japan].” At the recent French Open Osaka withdrew after the first round during controversy regarding her decision to skip required post match news interviews. Osaka revealed that she had been dealing with anxiety and depression issues since winning the US Open in 2018. I hope she’ll be back for the US Open at the end of August.

We also have our eye on Coco Gauff, the 17-year-old American who is partnering in Ladies’ Doubles with Cincinnati native, Caty McNally, and who captured fans’ attention by reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2019. Gauff reached the quarterfinals at the French Open last month, and she won the singles and doubles titles on clay courts at the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Open at Parma, Italy.

The only other man to win two Wimbledon titles in the last 20 years, Scotland’s Andy Murray is a dark horse at Wimbledon. After two hip surgeries and recurrent injuries, Murray has returned to the singles draw at Wimbledon for the first time since 2017. A British crowd favorite, Murray has said that his prospects at Wimbledon this year are unknown.

It seems like the Big Three have dominated men’s tennis forever, but the younger generation, now in their mid-twenties, are nipping at their heels, and it wouldn’t be surprising if one of them captured the title this year. The top contenders are: Daniel Medvedev (Russia, seeded 2nd), Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece, seeded 3rd), Alexander Zverev (Germany, seeded 4), Andrey Rublev (Russian, seeded 5th), and Matteo Berrettini (Italy, seeded 7th). Tsitsipas nearly upset Djokovic in a five-set thriller at the French Open final, Berrettini also pushed Djokovic to the limit in the French quarter-finals, and Medvedev is a two-time Grand Slam finalist and winner of the 2021 ATP Finals. The other top-ranked younger player, Austrian Dominic Thiem, who won the 2020 US Open, had to withdraw from Wimbledon because of injuries.

After a two-year wait, we are eager to watch lots of this year’s Wimbledon. Our hearts are with Roger Federer and Serena Williams, but we’re prepared for other more likely outcomes too. It’s at times like this that we appreciate what a miracle television is. In some ways it’s almost as good as being on the scene. Coverage on ESPN of Round 1 starts at 6 a.m. tomorrow. We’ll probably tune in a little bit later. LOVE, DAVE

A Quick Chat at City Lights

DEAR GEORGE, I was saddened recently to read that Lawrence Ferlinghetti, counter-culture poet and founder of San Francisco’s City Lights Bookstore, had died at the age of 101. Ferlinghetti has always been one of my favorite poets, and, because we Antiochians regarded ourselves as fledgling beatniks, he was a significant role model in my youth. I actually met Ferlinghetti briefly when I was spending the summer of 1959 in San Francisco. I’d driven out before my final year of college to decide, once and for all, whether or not to devote my life to becoming a writer. I saw an ad for a poetry reading by Ferlinghetti at City Lights and decided to go. The Beat Generation had been around for five or six years, and San Francisco (and the City Lights Bookstore specifically) was one of its major centers, drawing icons like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Gregory Corso. Ferlinghetti had recently published his first collection, “A Coney Island of the Mind”, and he was reading selections. By the time I arrived the bookstore was packed to capacity, and employees were putting the few remaining chairs up on the stage. As it turned out, I took the last seat, right next to Ferlinghetti himself who was already at the podium. Before the reading started, he turned to me and asked if I were a writer. I said that I was trying to be and explained that I’d come to the city from Antioch to devote myself to writing fiction. When I expressed dismay at the string of rejection letters I’d gotten, Ferlinghetti was encouraging and said he’d gone through the same start to his own career. That filled me with inspiration and I churned out a dozen more short stories during my remaining month in San Francisco. All of them were rejected, of course. The following summer Katja and I got married and moved to Ann Arbor for grad school, that proving to be the end of my beatnik days as well as my quasi-writing career. However, I still have good memories of my exciting encounter at the City Lights Bookstore. LOVE, DAVE

The Merry Month of May

Maia, the Greek goddess of Spring, with her six sisters 

Dear George,

It’s just four more days until the start of May, and already my mood is getting cheerier.  We’ve had an o.k. April, but sporadic snowstorms and too much rain have put a damper on it.  I was amazed by the photos from my hometown in the U.P. — snowdrifts ten feet tall in mid-April.  May, though, is definitely the best.  Flowers in full boom, birds are singing from all directions, and good weather for taking a stroll after supper.  Our Cincinnati summers get hot and humid in June and July, but May is ideal.  I was pleased to discover on the Internet that Americans in general share my opinion.  In December 1960 the Gallup Survey asked people to name their favorite month of the year.  May came in first, followed by June and July.  Gallup repeated the question in June 2005, and May again was the most popular.  Here are some facts about May that will put one in an even better mood. 

Love,

Dave  

MAY SYMBOLS (2, 16) [Note: Numbers refer to sources at end]

Name: May was named after the Greek Goddess of Fertility, Maia, who oversaw the growth of plants and vegetation.     

May Birthstone: Emerald (symbolizing rebirth and fertility) 

May Flower: Lily of the Valley (symbolizing the return of happiness)  

Zodiac signs: Taurus (Apr. 21 - May 20); Gemini (May 21 - June 2) 

CURIOUS MAY FACTS (1, 9, 16) 

In any given year not one other month begins or ends on the same day of the week as does May.  

May is the only month of the year in which no U.S. president has ever died.  

May was called Tri-Milchi in Old English because it was the month in which dairy cows could be milked three times a day.  

According to Google, “may” is the 55th most frequently used word in the English language.  

“MAY” IN OTHER LANGUAGES (8, 15, 16) 

Maius (Latin), Mei (French), Maggio (Italian), Mai (German and Danish), Maj (Polish, Russian, Swedish, and Norwegian), Mei (Dutch), Mayo (Spanish), Traven (Ukrainian), Toukokuu (Finnish), Wuyue (Chinese/Mandarin) 

MAY SUPERSTITIONS (2, 7, 24) 

It is unlucky to buy a new broom or to wash a blanket in May.

May is a bad luck month to get married (“Marry in May and you’ll rue the day.”)   

If you get up early and wash your face in the May dew, it will remove all your freckles and pimples.

Cats born in May won’t catch mice but they will bring home snakes.

“A dry May and a leaking June / Make the farmer whistle a merry tune.” 

MONTHLONG CELEBRATIONS IN MAY (16)  

Date Your Mate Month

Zombie Awareness Month

Fungal Infection Awareness Month

Chocolate Custard Month

Better Hearing and Speech Month 

Better Sleep Month

Loaded Potato Month 

National Smile Month 

MAY 2018 HOLIDAYS (6, 7, 13) 

May 1: May Day 

May 5: Cinco de Mayo

May 7: World Naked Gardening Day 

May 7: Kentucky Derby 

May 8: End of the Second World War 

May 8: Teacher’s Day 

May 11: National Eat What You Want Day

May 13: Mother’s Day

May 14: National Dance Like a Chicken Day 

May 16: Ramadan begins 

May 19: Armed Forces Day

May 28: Memorial Day 

May 28: Victoria Day (Canada) 

COUNTRY SINGERS BORN IN MAY (12) 

May 1, 1967: Tim McGraw, county western singer 

May 3, 1964: Wynona Judd, country singer

May 4, 1959: Randy Travis, country singer

May 5, 1942: Tammy Wynette, country singer

May 9, 1914: Hank Snow, country singer

May 18, 1952: George Strait, country singer

May 26, 1949: Hank Williams Jr., country singer

May 30, 1964: Wynona Judd, country singer 

 A FEW OF THE FAMOUS PEOPLE NAMED MAY (18, 19) 

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888).  American novelist, poet; author of Little Women. 

May Miller (1899-1995).  African-American poet, playwright, educator, leader in the Harlem Renaissance   

Rollo May (1909-1994).  American existential psychologist, author.  

May Sarton (1912-1995).  American poet, novelist, and memoirist.  

Elaine May (1932- ).  American screenwriter, oil director, actress, comedian.

May Britt (1934- ).  Swedish film actress; married Sammy Davis Jr. 

Lee May 1943- ).  Former Cincinnati Reds first baseman.  

Theresa May (1956- ).  British Conservative politican, current UK Home Secretary.  

May Andersen (1982- ).  Danish former model (Victoria’s Secret, SI Swimsuit Issue). 

SELECTED HISTORICAL EVENTS IN MAY (16)

May 10, 1869: Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads completed the Transcontinental Railroad.  

May 20, 1927: Charles Lindbergh took off on the first solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic. 

May 23, 1934: Bonnie and Clyde were shot to death near Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

May 24, 1935: The Reds beat the Phillies 2-1 in major league baseball’s first night game at Crosley Field.  

May 6, 1937: The Hindenburg exploded over Lakehurst, NJ, killing 36 passengers and crew. 

May 6, 1954: Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile at Oxford, England. 

May 17, 1954: The Supreme Court, in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.  

May 16, 1983: Michael Jackson performed his “Moonwalk” dance for the first time on TV. 

May 22, 1992:  Johnny Carson’s last show on The Tonight Show. 

May 1, 2011: Osama bin Laden reported killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan. 

SONGS ABOUT MAY (22, 25) 

Autumn to May (Peter, Paul, & Mary) 

End of May (Michael Buble) 

First of May (The Bee Gees) 

The Lusty Month of May (Lerner & Loewe, Camelot) 

People Who Are Born in May (Julie London) 

Stormy May Day (AC/DC)

MAY QUOTES (4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 17, 23, 26)

For May wol have no slogardie a-night.  The season priketh every gentil herte, And maketh him out of his slepe to sterte.  (Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Knight’s Tale”) 

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May.  (William Shakespeare) 

May, queen of blossoms, and fulfilling flowers; With what pretty music Shall we charm the hours?  (Lord Edward Thurlow)   

Sweet May hath come to love us, Flowers, trees, their blossoms don.  (Heinrich Heine) 

I thought that spring must last forevermore; For I was young and loved, and it was May.  (Vera Brittain) 

April is a promise that May is bound to keep.  (Hal Borland)  

May: the lilacs are in bloom.  Forget yourself.  (Marty Rubin) 

SOURCES:

(1) 929thelake.com, “7 Interesting Facts You May Not Know About May”; (2) almanac.com, “The Month of May 2018”; (3) blogs.wfmt.com, “6 Songs to Welcome the Merry Month of May”;(4) brainyquote.com, “Month of May”;(5) bustle.com, “16 May Day Quotes That Celebrate Spring”; (6) calendar-365.com, “2018 Holidays”; (7) celebrationjoy.com, “Month of May: Fun Facts, Quotes, and Trivia”; (8) ducksters.com, “May in History”; (9) express.co.uk, “Top ten facts about May”; (10) gardendigest.com, “May”; (11) goodreads.com, “May Quotes”; (12) holidayinsights.com, “Famous May Birthdays”; (13) holidayscalendar.com, “May Holidays in 2018/2019”; (14) mentalfloss.com, “11 Famous Birthdays to Celebrate in May”; (15) omniglotcom, “Months of the year in many different languages”; (16) popculturemadness.com, “May Trivia”; (17) quotestree.com, “Month of May Quotes and Sayings”; (17b) ranker.com, “The Best Movies With May in the Title”; (18) ranker.com, “Famous People Named May”; (19) ranker.com, “Famous People Whose Last Name is May”; (20) rhymezone.com, “Words and phrases that rhyme with may”; (21) The Washington Post, “The definitive ranking of the best and worst months of the year”; (22) thecavanproject.com, “13 Songs About May”; (23) thefreshquotes.com, “21 May Day Quotes”; (24) the studyabroadportal.com, “6 interesting facts about the month of May”; (25) 

ussers.globalnet.co.uk, “Song Titles with Months in Them”); (26) wiseoldsayings.com, “May Sayings and Quotes”

What the Gentlemen Seeds at Wimbledon Have to Say

Dear George, 

Katja and I are busy with the first week of Wimbledon.  Sometimes I think we’ve watched Grand Slam tennis forever.  We were zealous fans of Rod Laver and Billie Jean King in the 1970’s, then Borg and McEnroe, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.  For the last fifteen years or so we’ve cheered the most for Roger Federer.   To get more sense of the current top-ranked players, here are selected quotes from the top men’s seeds at Wimbledon (see sources listed at the end).  Where available, I’ve tried to include players’ comments about their own game, their more general attitudes toward tennis, and one or two items about their personal lives.  Here are what the men’s seeds at Wimbledon have had to say.  

Love,

Dave

#1.  Andy Murray (Great Britain, age 30, 45 career titles)

• My speed is something that has made a difference to my whole career. When I've felt quick and I'm moving well, it makes a huge difference to my entire game. When I feel a bit slower, I end up doing a lot more defending. When I'm a bit quicker to the ball, I feel I can attack a lot more.
• In tennis, it is not the opponent you fear, it is the failure itself, knowing how near you were but just out of reach. 
• Contrary to my image, I do have a sense of humour.
• When I'm at home, I enjoy going go-karting. 

#2.  Novak Djokovic (Serbia, age 30, 68 career titles)

• I like my groundstrokes, I can say. I like it. That's my game - I'm a groundstroke player and I play pretty aggressive.
• Tennis is my life, obviously; I need to focus, I need to win. But it's not the only thing. I'm not going to play forever.
• I want to help children in Serbia and around the world so they can realize their dreams.
• I am very skinny.

#3.  Roger Federer (Switzerland, age 35, 92 career titles) 

• My favorite shot is always gonna be the forehand. It used to always be my favorite shot when I was young, so it's the one I've won all the points with.
• When you do something best in life, you don't really want to give that up - and for me it's tennis.
• I'm as patient a father as I am on the tennis court. It takes a lot for me to get really upset, but sometimes kids can get you really cross if they really keep bugging you.
• When I was 12 years old, I was just horrible. My parents were ashamed to watch my matches. I would play on a court at the local club and they would watch from the balcony. They would scream, 'Be quiet' to me and I would scream back, 'Go and have a drink. Leave me alone.' Then we would drive home in a very quiet car. No one speaking to each other.

#4.  Rafael Nadal (Spain, age 31, 73 career titles) 

• I play each point like my life depends on it.
• If you don't lose, you cannot enjoy the victories. So I have to accept both things.
• I am not the most courageous guy in the world outside of the court. Being alone in the dark is something I don't like.
• I learned during all my career to enjoy suffering.

#5.  Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland, age 32, 16 career titles) 

• I was a little bit lost in my head after winning a Grand Slam. You're like: 'So what's the next goal? What do you want now? Where do you want to be? It's not a problem if you lose.'
• As a tennis player you have to get used to losing every week. Unless you win the tournament, you always go home as a loser. But you have to take the positive out of a defeat and go back to work. Improve to fail better.  (azq) 
• I like my easy life at home. I like to live in Switzerland. I like to be with my wife, with my daughter, to take my daughter to school, to lead a normal life. I try everything possible to keep that.

#6.  Milos Raonic (Canada, age 26, 8 career titles) 

• When I'm playing well because of my serve and trying to keep points shorter, I don't need to worry about my opponent. All I need to do is focus on myself and have them adjust to me rather than me adjust to them. That's when I play my best tennis.
• I have an inability after matches are over to sort of switch off and relax completely.
• The responsibility I have is a great thing, from helping tennis grow in Canada, but also in the future, being able to do stuff through my foundation, helping kids, and helping everyone I can, and really trying to make a difference. It would be a shame to be in the spotlight, have a voice and not do much with it.

#7.  Marin Cilic (Croatia, age 28, 17 career titles) 

• For me, the most important part is the feeling on the court. Games on clay are a bit different than all the other surfaces. If I’m feeling really well on the court then on all surfaces and at all tournaments I’m very sure in myself and confident that I can beat the best guys. 
• The most special Slam is Wimbledon, of course. But where I feel the best is Melbourne. And you're happy that you're playing. When you get to the middle of the season, everything is week after week, and it's all routine. But when it's Melbourne in January, you are fresh and you want to play. It's nice.
• We (Croatians )don’t have good tennis schools. We don’t have too long of a tradition, as you said. We don’t have tennis centers like in bigger countries, France, Spain, that year after year the young ones are going through. Just every several years some youngster just comes up out of nowhere and he’s playing great tennis, and I feel that that’s the most important part that is in every one of us.

#8.  Dominic Thiem (Austria, age 23, 8 career titles) 

• I was feeling not comfortable all the last two years on grass. I think the biggest difference this year is of course I got a lot of self‑confidence, but the biggest difference I think is my movement. I am much more down and much more stable. You have to stay low. The balls, they stay low. I think I'm moving much better over grass than the last two years.
• I am very calm, maybe even more quiet than I look on the court. I think that is pretty simple to me to have great relationship with almost all other players. On the court I’m a bit more irascible, but you will never see that I go mad. 
• A penguin is my favorite animal. They are very funny and they always have a kind smile on their faces. They just always look happy. Seems like they never have any problems. 

#9.  Kei Nishikori (Japan, age 27, 11 career titles)

• I'm not the loudest guy on the tour, for sure. I'm more calm, I think private, too. I try to show my guts and everything, good energy on the court.
• I love shopping. Especially I love shopping in London. I like shopping for clothes but I think I have to stay focused on my game.

#10.  Alexander Zverev (Germany, age 20, 4 career titles) 

• I love playing tennis because it’s one on one sport. You don’t get that in any other sport really. The closest you get is probably boxing. You still have your coaches and your team in your corner telling you what to do and stuff. I think tennis all depends on yourself. And that’s something fantastic about tennis.
• There are a lot of stories about me being potential number one, about Kyrgios being a potential number one, about Borna Coric, but what I think that shows is there is a very strong group of teenagers or young guys coming up, I think we can all do great.

#11.  Tomas Berdych (Czechoslavakia, age 31, 13 career titles) 

• I think I can win a slam. That's my main goal, and if I could choose one, then yes, it would have to be Wimbledon. But, honestly, I would take any one of them.
• Every time I am off the tennis tour, I go back home.

#12.  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France, age 32, 15 career titles) 

• The serve is the only thing you know about yourself when you play tennis. If you make it right, you make it right. Nobody can touch you when you serve. Nobody can disturb you. You have the ball in the hand.
• I wish I could’ve played 30 years ago. It was the best time to be a tennis player. Older players like Henri Leconte or Yannick Noah always tell me this. They had a lot of fun. Now it’s not possible because it is so professional and there is so much money.

SOURCES: www.brainyquote.com, www.tennismood.com, www.azquotes.com.  Also: www.asapsports.com; www.quotes.net; www.sundayquote.com; www.supanet.com; www.tennis-x.com; www.tennisquotes.com