Quotable Quips: This Week in Tennis Quotes

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Welcome to Quotable Quips, where we scour the internet, the pressers, the match recaps, and whatever else we can get our hands on to get a handle on who said what, why who said what, and what who might have meant when who said what.

Let's start with a 3-pack from the queen of quotes, Serena Williams:

1. Referring to her ankle injury, sustained in Brisbane during a victory over Bojana Jovanovski: "If it's not OK I'm definitely talking to my friend Jack tonight, so we'll see. He loves ice too."

2. On Twitter, in an apparent 180 after her much-interpreted I'm not in love with tennis revelation and the ankle injury/ Jack quote: "Being an athlete requires sacrifice, discipline & heart. There is no winning without hard work. I'm about to overcome this."

3. Via Twitter, on New Year's Eve (this one explains a lot): "I definitely have a screw loose."

Moving on, let's get to some more serious stuff:

Bernard Tomic, on his feelings of manliness, which were fueled by his semifinal appearance in Brisbane: "I feel much more confident. I'm stronger physically. It's a better feeling out there knowing you're not a young kid anymore, with players overpowering you."

Marion Bartoli, on her feelings of guilt after double-bageling Jarmila Gajdasova at Hopman Cup: "I'm sorry I beat her that way but I was just focusing on my own game and not looking at the scoreboard."

Flavia Pennetta, discussing her relationship with Carlos Moya, in her recently released book, entitled "Straight to the Heart:" "I was trying to be numb towards life, not to feel pain. I did not even feel physical (pain). A silly example: even when I was waxing, I did not even feel anything."

Margaret Court, in an interview with Ben Rothenberg of NYT Straight Sets, when asked why she feels she is being misunderstood with regard to her stance on gay marriage: "Well, I think one of the tennis girls said, "Why do I hate homosexual people?" And I don't hate homosexual people. That's been put out there, and I think that's very wrong."

Milos Raonic, on his plan for world domination, after taking out Janko Tipsarevic in Chennai: "My job is to take care of my serve."

An anything but overconfident Kaia Kanepi, on her amazing run that led to her winning the Brisbane title: "I have to be ready because history has shown that nothing comes easy for me."

Yanina Wickmayer, who returned from a five-month hiatus due to back issues, on being scheduled on an outside court in Auckland earlier in the week: "I guess five months off and you're nobody, huh?"

And, finally, we'll close with some more humorous quotes (and if you haven't watched the YouTube video at the top of the page, you might get a laugh or two out of that as well):

Jack Reader, Alexandr Dolgopolov's coach, on his charge's volleys: "I hate his volleys. It's like he is waving a wand around instead of punching the volley forward."

Andrea Hlavackova, after winning the doubles title in Auckland, on how she originally paired up with her partner Lucie Hradecka: "I kind of stole her from another player."

Flashback Friday: Safin-Sampras, Australian Open, 2002

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Each Friday at The Fan Child's Two Cents, we will tap the archives and take a look back at a classic tennis memory.
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Marat Safin and Pete Sampras met four times in Grand Slams, and, strangely, this nail biter in the 4th round of the 2002 Australian Open was the only meeting that went beyond three sets. With Sampras 30 years of age and Safin still 21 at the time (he would turn 22 5 days later), many have wondered what the matchup might have been like had the two reached their prime at the same time in their careers.

Speculation aside, even though these two titans of tennis were more than 8 years apart in age, their meetings did make for some compelling, even ethereal tennis, and the above clip of their third and fourth set tiebreakers provides concrete evidence of that.

Actually, there's enough tennis gusto in the first point of the third set tiebreaker to make a lot of complete matches look, well, wimpy. Athleticism is one thing, and both Sampras and Safin are clearly gifted in that regard, but what impresses me most about seeing these two battle it out head-to-head is the sheer manliness of the tennis. The word formidable comes to mind, and it can be equally applied to both players. Both are dauntingly tall with broad shoulders, and each generates a massive serve and huge groundstrokes from their frames. Furthermore, each employed an aggressive style that suited their assets. This was manly tennis played by manly men, and its visceral appeal -- the sheer intimidating aggressive nature of each -- was awe inspiring and attractive.

What is intriguing about this particular match is that Sampras, after being boxed around by Safin for the first two sets, is clearly digging as deep as he possibly can to try and stage a comeback. Sampras would play (and win) his final Grand Slam only nine months later, and while he'd clearly lost his superhuman-ness at this stage of his career, he hadn't lost that lust for battle that had always partially defined him.

Safin, no doubt bolstered by his straight set victory over Sampras in the 2000 US Open final even after an injury-marred 2001, would prove himself to be up to the task of weathering the Sampras storm on this occasion. The big Russian was able to fight off not one but two set points in the fourth set tiebreaker by hitting blistering backhands down the line that caught Sampras off guard on each.

"He loves that should doesn't he?" said one commentator after the second match point saved.

"Why wouldn't he?" said the other.

Safin would eventually prevail, 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6.

But the former world No. 1 and current Russian Parliament member would eventually fail in his attempt to win his first Australian Open title (he fell to Swede Thomas Johansson in the final).

It's a shame that these two greats weren't a few years closer in age, but they still managed to stage a few epic battles nonetheless, and for that, we should be thankful.

Jay Z in the House

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Holy hilarity.

When I posted this piece about who is trending up during the first week of the tennis season, I regretted that I didn't leave space to mention Zheng Jie, who has reached the semifinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, and will face Svetlana Kuznetsova for a spot in the final.

For the former Wimbledon and Australian Open semifinalist (and former No. 15 in the world), things are clearly moving in the right direction. Dating back to her semifinal appearance in Guangzhou, this is Zheng's third semifinal appearance in her last six events. Zheng, who had wrist surgery prior to 2011, appears to have finally gotten her mojo back.

She celebrated that fact with some hilariously good-natured hip-hopping, aided by a posse of event media staff. The result is sure to be a viral video. Watch out Petko, the WTA might have itself a new it girl.

Reading the Tennis Tea Leaves: Who is Trending Up?

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It's been a tumultuous week of tennis, and today I'm going to try to make sense of some of the madness by attempting to quantify the early achievements that we've witnessed in Brisbane, Perth, Auckland, Doha and Chennai.

In keeping with the spirit of making sense of the madness, I've elected to go with a nice easy bullet format, so, without any further ado...

• Aussie Kim is Emerging as an Australian Open favorite -- There were moments during her straight set victory over Iveta Benesova last night where I became convinced that Clijsters is going to be the best player on the WTA tour through the Olympics this year. She was tattooing the ball early and often last night, from both sides, and it was easy to see that this was not the same Clijster's who didn't even bother limping to the finish line in 2011. A myriad of injuries caused Kim to pretty much throw in the towel before Wimbledon last year, but if last night's version of Aussie Kim is any indication, she's hell bent on starting the year with a bang. She was certainly banging last night, and what impressed me most of all was her movement. Precise footwork and keen fitness will allow Clijsters -- should she manage to stay healthy -- to produce a daunting blend of knock-your-socks-off power and keep-the-point-alive defense that is sure to make her a very scary opponent in Melbourne.
  

• Dolgopolov Top Ten? -- I don't know if "The Dog" will ever be one of the more consistent players on tour, but man is this guy electric. Of all the guys on tour, is there any player who has a game that resembles a 4th of July fireworks display more closely than Dolgopolov? This guy is exploding bottle rockets all the way. He may not be a fixture in Grand Slam semifinals this year, but if dolgopolov does go deep in a Slam, get your popcorn ready and your DVD set to "record."

• Kaia Kanepi Surging -- A powerful display that featured 12 aces and a whole lot of sizzling forehands left the Estonian among the last four in Brisbane. She's currently ranked No. 34, but reached as high as No. 16 in 2011. Could this be the beginning of another push for her?

• How will Serena's ankle affect her chances in Melbourne? -- I think the ankle will limit Serena's already limited mobility, and that will be a hindrance for her in Melbourne, should she be fit enough to play, for sure. That said, if there is anyone on the women's side who can overcome mobility with a parade of aces and winners it is Serena. Still, I think this will hurt her chances of returning to the Grand Slam winner's circle quite a bit.

• Tsonga at a new level? -- Doesn't it seem like the always brilliant Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has turned a corner of late? He was always pure poetry in motion, but now he seems less prone to the walkabout virus that continues to plague his friend Gael Monfils. I think the Frenchman, with all his firepower and shotmaking prowess, could make a push to enter the top four.

• Li Na has something to prove, and that is a good thing -- The 2011 French Open champion didn't like the way the rest of 2011 went down, and she's apparently out to prove that she can not only regain the form that saw her play two consecutive Grand Slam finals in 2011, she can do better. Li busted her hump in Munich during the off-season, and here's what she had to say about the experience.
  

  “The training lasted four weeks. Like no photo-shooting, no interviews, just only training, very tough, like six hours a day for training. Two or three hours for tennis but most was for fitness because I want to keep healthy and stay for whole season.

  “Before I always have knee injury and some back injury so I couldn’t finish whole season and I didn’t want to do that again. I know now I’m not young anymore – I didn’t have time to waste. I have to focus every tournament, every second, so that’s why I stay in Munich for long time just to keep body healthy and strong.”

• Tomic on the up -- the 19-year-old Aussie has made his first quarterfinal on home soil, and he's added a little muscle (3kg) to help him add some power to his already nuanced game. He'll play a winnable match against Denis Istomin for a spot in the semifinals, where either Andy Murray or Marcos Baghdatis will be waiting.
  

• Different year, same grinders -- How nice is it to see that heart and soul veterans Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova have already made their first semifinals of the year? I know it's far-fetched, but is there anybody out there who wouldn't enjoy seeing these two battlers reprising their friendly rivalry in a Grand Slam final?
  

• Masha? -- Well, Serena's got ankle issues and so does Maria Sharapova. But Maria's injury, which happened in October, is a bit more concerning. It's been almost three months and if she plays Melbourne, she'll be coming in with zero matches under her belt.

The Deuce Court: Serena Said What?

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The Deuce Court is The Fan Child's soapbox. Today we discuss Serena Williams eye-opening comments about her lack of love for tennis and Rafa's heavier stick.

Deuce #1: Serena Said What?

Everybody and their mother's cousin has already posted takes on Serena's latest attention-grabbing remarks to the press, but if you haven't read or heard enough yet, I encourage you to follow along with me.

Actually, I don't really have much to say. Serena probably fell out of love with tennis a long time ago. It's not really big news. And can you blame her? The same tour stops, year after year; the same questions from the same people, year after year; she's thirty, but after the year she had last year, she must feel like she's going on 130.

Worry not, die hards! The fact Serena chose to have a little fun with the media doesn't necessarily mean that she's at the end of her wits, contemplating retirement, or burned out beyond repair. For all the criticism that she takes, the fact that Serena is quick to lively up the press room with her abstract sense of humor is something that we should praise her for. We watch tennis to see competitors, and Serena's always been there to give us what we need in that regard; we watch press conferences to get a glimpse into what kind of people the athletes really are, and Serena's always been quite good at that too.

She really is quite hilarious (Brad Gilbert had some interesting comments on her on ESPN today), and it takes a rare athlete to be as convincingly good as often as Serena has been in her career while also being convincingly, well, strange. Just listen to her remarks: "I've actually never liked sports...I don't like working out, I don't like anything that has to do with working physically...if it involves sitting down or shopping, I'm excellent at that."

What? I actually never liked sports? Are you telling me I'm supposed to do anything but laugh at that?

There are a lot of ways to interpret Serena's words, but to think or expect her to give away these last few years of the prime of her tennis life because she's tired of working out is ludicrous. This is, after all, a women whose pressers frequently devolve into discussions of nail-painting techniques, hip-hop chart-toppers, and the size of Nadal's butt.

With Serena's pressers the message has always been clear: Interpret at your own risk. The real proof, as it always has been, will be found on the court. She's done a pretty good job of proving herself over the years, and I don't suspect that she'll have a problem doing so in 2012, whether she's in love with tennis or she'd rather host an 80's practice than hit the gym.

Ad Out: Rafa's Heavy Stick

We've covered Rafa's butt, as seen through Serena's eyes (she did call Rafa her "fellow booty brother" last year), and now it's time to cover Rafa's racquet. This story is pretty much for Rafa fanatics (who isn't) and gear geeks (how could you not be?), and the gist of it is that Rafa has opted to add weight to his Babolat AeroPro Drive GT. Check out Tennis.com's newest gear maven, Justin Difeliciantonio's piece for more in-depth analysis. Or, if you really want to get specific, check out Matt Cronin's tweet (@tennisreporters) which reports the following:

Babolat re Nadal's racquet: "Fine-tuning Rafa's swing weight, slight addition of weight near headsize part, modifying weight by 7 pts.

Reportedly, Rafa is searching for a little more pop on the serve and a little more zing on the two-hander. My guess is that he finds it, but here's my question: will he find it before he takes his February sabbatical?

"My preparation is not the perfect one, and I'm trying to play with a little bit heavier racket, to get a little bit more power," Nadal told reporters on Monday.

I pulled this question and answer from Rafa's Doha press conference today. The whole transcript can be found at Nadalnews.com.

Q. Are you starting to get a bit of rhythm with the new racquet? Are you starting to get the feel of it?

RAFAEL NADAL: I think I did a few things very well today. I hit very good with my backhand. I really believe that the racquet can help me with the backhand.

With the forehand I felt I hit the ball most of the times where I want to hit the ball. Few days ago and yesterday in the practice, you know, when I tried to hit the ball, sometimes I hit it a little bit left, sometimes too early. That’s why I didn’t have totally the control of that, you know, the speed of the racquet, no?

But today when we have rallies, I really felt that I have really positive control of the ball. Not perfect, for sure, but in general I think I felt most of the shots the right way. So that’s really positive.