On the court, tennis players let their rackets do the talking. But in the press room? Not so much. Here are some of our favorite quotes from early-round action at the Western & Southern Open.
Serena on her recent social media post about the difficulties of being a working mother…
“Yeah, I think it's really important to just, first of all, whether it's publicly or not, just to talk about it to someone. This is a whole new position that I'm in. This is like -- I have been through a lot of stuff in my life, but I have never been through this, having a baby and feeling the emotions and the ups and downs and the fears and the excitement, quite frankly.
So, for me, it's just -- I just love talking about it, because I feel like a lot of people have those same emotions and they don't have the same platform as I have. And mostly I want women out there to know that if I'm going through it and I know you're going through it, then we're in this together. Everyone, no matter who we are, kind of always have the same feelings.”
Roger Federer on the difference between practice and match play…
“It just feels different. I don't know what it is. Seeing 10,000 people in a stadium and double faulting and go, like, ‘Oh, I hope it's not going to happen again.’ Whereas in practice you hit a double fault, like, ‘Well, it's not going to happen again,’ or if it does, fine, you know. It's not the end of the world. Whereas in a match situation, you're like, ‘If I double fault again, this means I'll be broken. Am I going to be able to turn the tide or not?’”
Novak Djokovic on why it’s becoming more and more rare to see the Big Four in the same tournament draw…
“I guess it's just age, in a way, as well (smiling). And though I think age is just a number, but still, players that were winning most of the big tournaments in the last decade, I don't know want to say an expired date with our body, but just times when you need to slow things down a little bit and be wiser in terms of approach and scheduling when you want to play your best.”
Karolina Pliskova on the positivity she feels around new coach Rennae Stubbs…
“Look, I have been around her, like, four days, so it's not much, but actually I feel positive, and, look, I beat Radwanska for first time in my life (smiling). I'm not saying it's because of her, but, no, for sure I feel pretty good and I'm just happy on the court, which I didn't feel for a while.”
Stan Wawrinka on his comeback after injury…
“Yeah, I do trust my body. Now I need to trust my mind, also. I need to get used to those match, tough match, get used to those moments where you need to not think too much about what's happening but just play your game.”
Andy Murray on his trip to Kings Island amusement park with Nick Kyrgios…
“That's the first time I had been over there. A lot of the times when I'd come here, I'd arrive quite late from Canada, so, yeah, I had never done it before. It was fun. It was pretty intense (smiling). Yeah, I enjoyed it. It was good.”
Kyrgios on his Instagram video shoot with Murray on a Kings Island roller coaster…
“Well, I don't know if it's a hit. We got in trouble with it. I was supposed to take it down but I haven't. It was unbelievable. Unbelievable. I wish I could do it again. But I will get in trouble for it.”
Kyrgios on hiring a full-time physio…
“I mean, I'm getting told by people in my team that I need to start taking care of my body. I played two to three hours of basketball in Atlanta every day, so that's not gonna help. If I knuckle down and I do the right things, I think I can do it. I have done it before. I have gone through a long time with no injury. I'm just not doing the right things at the moment. It's hard to do.”
Toronto finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas on his star status in his native Greece…
“I'm aware of that. I saw lots of -- I mean, even the prime minister tweeted about it, and it's pretty good to have such important people of the country to pay attention to it.”