Best quotes from the 2015 U.S. Open

Benoit Paire, after beating Kei Nishikori: “When I come on the court I say, ‘Come on. You can beat Kei.’ It’s not like if I play against Roger Federer.”

Rafael Nadal, on what he was struggling with against Borna Coric: “Was not a stomach problem. Was little bit of just dishydration.”

Mardy Fish, poking fun at writer Doug Robson for asking so many questions all in one question: “I will answer your fifth question first.”

Isner, on Caroline Wozniacki interrupting his press conference: “Now that I’m close to the top 10, Caroline is actually talking to me again. When I was ranked like 90 she would walk right by me. If I could get in single digits I think I can get some of Caroline’s attention. That’s my goal. I have to get in single digits. This is my incentive. Caroline talks to me if I get in single digits.”
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Isner, on if he’d rather play Roger Federer or Philipp Kohlschreiber: “That’s a good question.”

Donald Young, after beating Gilles Simon: “If I was in France or somewhere else, some random place around the world, I’m pretty sure I would have lost.”

Thanasi Kokkinakis, after losing to Richard Gasquet on if he would stay in New York for a while or go to Scotland for Davis Cup: “No disrespect to Scotland. I don’t think I’ll be getting there too early.”

Jack Sock, on what he likes to do in New York: “Playing a lot of FIFA in my room.”

Stan Wawrinka, on what he knew about second-round opponent Hyeon Chung: “He beat my friend Paire last week.”

Nick Kyrgios, on Bernard Tomic: “He’s harmless. He’s just a normal kid. I don’t really understand where he gets this reputation from…or where I get it from at all. Somehow we got this reputation that’s just ridiculous.”

Unknown reporter who incorrectly thought Mardy Fish beat Feliciano Lopez, to Milos Raonic: “Long and hard battle for Mardy out here. He had a tough second round as well. Talk about a matchup with him.”

Nadal, after beating Diego Schwartzman: “I fighted well. I fighted until the end.”

Novak Djokovic, on third-round opponent Andreas Seppi: “If you allow him to play, he can play well.”

Isner, on returning well enough to win his first six sets of the tournament without a tiebreaker: “I won’t be turning into Novak anytime soon.”

Federer, on so many players retiring: “Clearly I’m surprised to hear that players are retiring because of heat. What I don’t understand, we’ve been here in North America for some time. It’s not like all of a sudden hot. It’s not like impossible, to be quite honest. Really no excuse for that. I think everybody should be well-prepared. I think players should be so fit that heat really shouldn’t matter.”

Lleyton Hewitt, on who was/were the biggest fighter/fighters he faced during his career: “Nadal, for sure.”

Young, on ballboying for John McEnroe: “I’m just happy he didn’t scream at me.”

Milos Raonic, after losing to Feliciano Lopez on where he was on the frustration meter between 0 and 100: “85.”

Nadal, on Tiger Woods: “I don’t have idols. But that’s closest thing that I have: him.”

Gasquet, on high-fiving Tomic after hitting an around-the-post winner: “It’s an incredible shot, so I’m very happy with it. It’s very funny for me. The crowd loved it. Bernard is a great friend of mine, so I think I can do it with him. You don’t do it with guys you don’t like. With him, he’s a great friend.”

Federer, on inventing the SABR tactic during a Cincinnati practice session with Paire: “I was very tired and he was tired. ‘Okay, I’m going to chip and charge and just keep the points short. I’m tired. I want to get off the court soon anyway.’ That’s when I started to run in and hit returns. I hit a couple for a winner. They were like ridiculous. He laughed, I laughed, Severin (Luthi) laughed. Then I did it again in the next practice just to see if it actually would still work again. Then I tried it the next practice and it still worked. That’s what Severin said, ‘Well, what about using it in a match?’ I was like, ‘Really?'”

Young, on the Grandstand crowd after beating Viktor Troicki: “It’s almost like the other guy’s playing [one versus two].”

Lopez, on the Nadal vs. Fabio Fognini match: “The way they were playing, it was just amazing. I was watching the match in my room. I couldn’t believe how good they were playing–especially Fabio, how many winners he was able to hit on that fifth set. I was thinking about him playing this way against me. I was scared.”

Lopez, on Djokovic: “When Novak plays good, you don’t know what to do.”

Young, on whoever cleared his locker out thinking he was out of the tournament despite the fact that he was still alive in singles, doubles, and mixed: “I shook my head. Wow, I guess they weren’t watching anything.”

Wawrinka, on if he will wear the shorts he wore at the French Open: “Never again.”

Kevin Anderson, on the texts he got after beating Andy Murray: “I think my phone kind of froze I got so many.”

Isner, on if he takes inspiration from fellow big man Anderson’s win over Murray: “No, I don’t. Doesn’t inspire me.”

Federer, on Isner’s winner that bounced on Federer’s side then spun back over the net to the other side: “I was thinking, ‘That was good, that was nice, John.’ Not so nice against me, but nice nevertheless.”

Marin Cilic, reflecting on his five-setter against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: “Two sets to up…two sets to zero…I lost my words. I don’t know what I’m talking anymore.”

Federer, on the amount of blue courts being played on around the world: “I think it’s important that you see the ball properly on the TV, otherwise why watch two players running and not seeing the ball? I mean, if you like that, sure, let’s keep it yellow courts.”

Cilic, after getting blown out by Djokovic: “I was able to enjoy it a little bit even though it wasn’t fun.”

Federer, on Boris Becker calling the SABR disrespectful: “No, it’s not disrespectful. Pretty simple.”

Jamie Murray, after losing the doubles final on how well Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut played: “Herbert had a few great shots at the right time. I thought that was it.”

Taylor Fritz, while blowing a lead against Tommy Paul in the junior final before recovering to win: “This guy is impossible to beat!”

Paul, on Fritz saying he is impossible to beat. “I didn’t hear him say that. I wish I heard him say that.”

Federer, on the fans who were so pro-Federer that they often cheered Djokovic mistakes: “They were unbelievable tonight. Were they better than ever? Possibly. Was it louder than ever? Maybe. It was unreal.”

Djokovic, to a reporter who was sleeping during his press conference: “You like my voice? I mean, is it calming you down? Getting you in the zen state?”