By Chris Oddo | Monday, March 10, 2014
What were tennis' biggest stars talking about during the first week of the BNP Paribas Open? Read on to find out.
Photo Credit: Christopher Levy @tennis_shots
Take a peek inside the BNP Paribas Open press room to sample a few quotable quips from the first week of the tournament:
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1. Novak Djokovic, as he interrupted Grigor Dimitrov's press conference on Sunday night:
“My friend Grigor here, best looking guy on the tour. You don't need to talk about tennis too much. You had so much success this year, let's talk about your looks.”
2. Grigor Dimitrov, when asked what his favorite Sugarpova candy was (with a completely straight face, mind you):
“Flirty Sour.”
3. John Isner, on whether or not he felt any additional pressures as the last American man standing at Indian Wells.
“Selfishly I'm just worried about myself, really. I certainly want all those guys to do well. But at the same time, it's not my concern at all. My concern is myself and just trying to keep moving forward and keep getting better and get back to where I want to be.”
4. 5'2” Lauren Davis, when asked if she was insired by Dominika Cibulkova's run to the Australian Open final.
“Yes. I have always looked up to her. I really don't think it's a matter of height. I think it's a matter of believing in yourself and having faith in yourself.”
5. Genie Bouchard, admiring the stuffed animals she receives from fans while in press after a big win over Sara Errani.
“Yeah, they get cuter and cuter. Look at this one. He has a turtleneck sweater with racquets on it. It's one of my favorites so far.”
6. Tomas Berdych, critically assessing his performance in his shocker loss to Roberto Bautista-Agut on Sunday.
“...Anything I touched today was basically bad and was wrong. So really, you know, just to recap it, definitely my worst match that I had this year.”
7. Tracy Austin, commenting during a Jiri Vesely injury timeout in which the 20-year-old Czech was having his feet looked at.
“Tennis player's feet are never the prettiest, but they get a little better when you retire though.”
8. Rafael Nadal, happy to divulge about the state of his back at Indian Wells, and his mindset about it.
“You know, a little bit scared for the back. I am not feeling yet 100% confident with my serve. Even if my back is better than Rio--in Rio I was feeling the back not very well.”
9. An introspective Ryan Harrison after dropping a wild match to Fabio Fognini on Saturday night.
“Does it suck I lost? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I spent the last 45 minutes yelling at my coach and trainer because I was pretty frustrated. Not at them, but venting, you know. You get it out of your system and then you keep moving forward and it is what it is. You just take the positives and you keep going.”
10. Li Na, explaining her difficulties with doubles and why she doesn't join the doubles parade at Indian Wells.
“When I was [standing on] the court I even didn't know what I have to do. Even I return, I was feeling the court so small. Everywhere is people. I cannot do it.”
11. Roger Federer, on not letting social media take over his life (don't worry, he says he enjoys it very much).
“You just can't [start] being sucked into it too crazy, otherwise all you start doing is spending time on the phone, and that's not what I want to start happening to me.”