What a polite game tennis is. The chief word in it seems to be 'sorry'and admiration of each other's play crosses the net as frequently as the ball.

-Barrie, SirJ(ames) M(atthew)
Quoted in Colin  Jarman The Guinness Dictionary of Sports Quotations (1990).

Pam, I adore you, Pam, you great mountainous sports girl, Whizzing them over the net, full of the strength of five: That old Malvernian brother, you zephyr and khaki shorts girl, Although he's playing for Woking, Betjeman Can't stand up to your wonderful backhand drive.

-Betjeman, SirJohn
  Old Lights for New Chancels,'PotPourrifrom a SurreyGarden'.

   Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down.

-Frost, Robert Lee
   Address at Milton  Academy, Mass,17 May.

The self isnow the sacred cow of American culture, self- esteem is sacrosanct, and so we labour to turn arts education into a system in which no one can fail. In the same spirit, tennis could be shorn of its elitist overtones: you just get rid of the net.

-Hughes, Robert Studley Forrest
  Culture of Complaint: The Fraying of  America.

Net. Anything reticulated or decussated at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections.

-Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson
  A Dictionary of the English Language.

If you're up against a girl with big boobs, bring her to the net and make her hit backhand volleys.

-King, BillieJean ne¤  e Moffitt
  Billie Jean King.

Conversation is like playing tennis with a ball made of Krazy Putty that keeps coming back over the net in a different shape.

-Lodge, David John
  Small World, pt.1, ch.1.

If you're in the penalty area and aren't sure what to do with the ball, just stick it inthenet, and we'll discuss your options afterwards.

-Shankly, Bill (William)
Quoted in ColinJarmanThe Guinness Dictionary of Sports Quotations (1990).