Wordplay: Delpo Laying off Burgers, Venus Has no Regrets, Djokovic Prefers to Stay on the Ground

By Chris Oddo

(August 20, 2012) -- Oh boy. Were are literally within spitting distance of the last Grand Slam of the year, and things just keep getting crazier and crazier on the tennis front. Federer is proving that 31 is the new 25 and Venus is proving that hell hath no fury like a woman on a mission.

In other news, expect next week's Wordplay to be full of hilarious and heartwarming quips from Andrea Petkovic, who is making her long-anticipated return to tennis at the New Haven Open this week. The 24-year-old has not played a lick since retiring from a match with Victoria Azarenka in Stuttgart this April.

Without any further ado, let's get to the best quotes and tweets from the week that was...

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"I don't know. I'm not eating too much burgers at the moment." -- Juan Martin del Potro, when asked by reporters in Cincinnati how he has managed to become quicker in the last few years. He's from Argentina, Delpo probably skips the burgers and goes straight to the steaks...

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"Well, I couldn't fist pump because I was 6‑Love down, you know. How could I?" -- Novak Djokovic, talking about his lack of positive body language in the early going of his 6-0, 7-6(7) loss to Roger Federer in the Western and Southern Open on Sunday.

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Sabine Lisicki, explaining the realities of being a professional tennis player. Look, Sabine, I know it's a pain, but the alternative is far, far worse to contemplate (see Major League Baseball circa 1990). In other words: Yes, doping test on a Sunday...REALLY...

7am doping test on a SUNDAY...!?!? Really?
— Sabine Lisicki (@sabinelisicki) August 19, 2012

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"I like to live life with no regrets. I don't want look back and feel like I gave up or say I could have done this or that. That's not me. I wanted to go the very end and at least know that maybe I missed some shots or maybe I wasn't feeling my best, but I gave it my all." -- Venus Williams, after her amazing run in Cincinnati ended with a semifinal loss to Li Na.

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Hey Serena, you aren't the only one!!!

I'm so proud of my sister Venus @venuseswilliams I love you.
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) August 19, 2012

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"I was feeling like, 'Oh, I'm so tired.' I was tired in the body and tired in the mentally as well. I don't know. Maybe I'm too strong. Or too tough." -- Li Na, when asked if she thought a Cincinnati title run was possible after a Monday final the week before in Montreal.

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2012, in a nutshell, for the explosive young Canadian soon-to-be top tenner:

Tough loss yesterday, now packing the bags and off to New York City.
— Milos Raonic (@milosraonic) August 18, 2012

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"I totally returned all of Jeremy's serves. I don't know what he's talking about. He needs to come in here and be honest. I hit winners on him." -- Serena Williams, after reporters asked her what it was like to return Jeremy Chardy's serve (Chardy and Serena both spend time practicing at the Moratoglou Academy, and they also have differing opinions of exactly how Serena fared against Chardy's HUGE serve.

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Is it just me, or should Svetlana Kuznetsova have her own TV show?

Just posted a photo instagr.am/p/OcDgqsgN6_/
— Svetlana Kuznetsova (@SvetlanaK27) August 17, 2012

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For the record, I loved Stosur's dress. I think Asics has done a really job accentuating Stosur's buffed figure in a cool way. She looks bad-ass. Still, this Tweet from SI's Jon Wertheim was funny...

Nice dress, Sam Stosur. On a related note, somewhere in southern Ohio, a family is missing a picnic blanket..
— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) August 17, 2012

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Rory's pretty cool, but Micaela is the COOLEST!

Bumped into recent PGA Champ, @mcilroyrory, 1/2 of the famous Wozzilroy! twitter.com/MicaelaBryan/s…
— Micaela Bryan (@MicaelaBryan) August 16, 2012

See you next week!

(Photo Credit: Matthew Stockman/ Getty)