Relevant Quotes From Rogers Cup: Hypotheticals, Broken Ribs, and Table Tennis

I scoured through all of the transcripts from the Rogers Cup so you didn’t have to!
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Hypothetically this was a stupid answer. Technically too.

Q.  DelPo was upset in the second set, felt you touched the net.  What was your view of that point?

MILOS RAONIC:  I was fortunate that the line judge didn’t see it.  It’s a lucky thing for me in my sense, unlucky for him.  Something that can go really both ways.
It’s sort of the exact same thing as having no challenges left and you get a bad line call.  It’s like a bad‑luck thing.  It was hard to sort of be able to take this point on such a big point.

Q.  He seemed to think you should have called it on yourself. 

MILOS RAONIC:  It’s a big point.  I don’t know.  If you can put somebody in the situation being down breakpoint, same thing happens, do you call it on yourself?

Q.  But it was his point.

MILOS RAONIC:  Hypothetically yes.  Technically no.

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Accolades for everyone!

Q.  Next you have Matosevic.  He’s been doing very good lately. 

RAFAEL NADAL:  Yeah, he’s playing great.  I know he’s a good player.  He already played a good tournaments on hard.  He had good results in the past.  I played against him in Monte‑Carlo this year I think.  He’s a dangerous player.  I know he can play at very high level.
Today he had a great victory against a very tough opponent, Benoit Paire.

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He’s just a glass-half-full guy.

Q.  A lot of the players complain about the balls here in Montréal.  What do you think about that?
ERNESTS GULBIS:  Let them complain.  I don’t want to complain.  I love everything.  I love everybody.  I’m being positive.  I want the positiveness back (laughter).

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The rules according to Tom.

Q.  The underhand serve you did, what was going on?  Was it the referee?  Was it the crowd?  Was it the attitude of the match?

TOMAS BERDYCH:  Well, you know, I’m always the one who’s going to be fighting against these strange rule which we have.  It was just trying to show that I’m against it.

You know, actually, it’s a good point.  I’m going to go and ask actually really what’s the rule.  I don’t see a point why the point doesn’t count.  I don’t know.  If there is an explanation, I’m just going to go and ask the referees.  I don’t want to do it on the court because it goes fire, it’s not good for the game and for everything.
But it was just fun.

Q.  What is the rule?

TOMAS BERDYCH:  I have no idea.  I thought when I’m ready to serve, all of a sudden he just called time violation, I can do whatever I want, so I was serving.  I’m not sure if I’m not allowed to serve from, I don’t know how to call it.  If I have a shoulder problem, why I cannot put the ball in like that?
That’s what I need to know.

Q.  Michael Chang won a French Open that way. 

TOMAS BERDYCH:  You see (smiling).  This was the second round of a 1000 Series tournament.  I think the guy needs to get some knowledge.

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Aga gets greedy.

Q.  John Isner was in the issue, but if you had a choice of which tennis player, male tennis player, you would like to see… 

AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA:  Everyone.  (Laughter).

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Sara Errani, Language Police.

Q.  Were there some verbal exchanges between the two of you during the match?  Was that just heat‑of‑the‑moment battles?

SARA ERRANI:  No, it was just funny thing.  I just say to her why she was saying “Vamos” and not “Allez.”  Normally she say “Allez,” so I thought, why you say “Vamos”?

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Marion Bartoli, Switzerland.

Q.  You have become kind of close to Cornet, a little bit, Alize?

MARION BARTOLI:  We are very good friends, with all the French girls, really, Kristina, Alize, Caroline Garcia, and myself.  We are, since the Fed Cup, really been able to build a great, nice friendship, relationship, and we are supporting each other, definitely.

Q.  Errani thought that because she was saying “Vamos” that it was sort of gamesmanship.  And you know Alize.  Do you think that that’s possible?

MARION BARTOLI:  No.  Alize is always, in a lot of her matches, maybe because she likes so much clay she feel like she’s Spanish a little bit.
But no, I mean, I saw her play so many matches over the years, and she’s always said “Vamos” in her matches, always, always.  So that should show you when she’s so focused in her mind that she say more “Vamos” than “Allez.”
There is nothing against Sara, nothing at all.  She’s way too sweet and way too nice to kind of doing that in purpose, no way.

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Yeah, Tom. Don’t be an idiot.

Q.  Any reason for the blue tonight?

MILOS RAONIC:  I think it’s a nice shirt, no (smiling)?

Q.  You won in red last night.  Why would you change a winning combination?

MILOS RAONIC:  It’s a shirt, Tom.  A shirt is not going to win a match for you.

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Another case of mono:

Q.  You had a late start of the season with health problems.  Do you feel it was some sort of advantage?

VASEK POSPISIL:  You know what, it’s ironic, because I had mono at the beginning of the year.  I needed a diet change.  It was basically forced on me.  To have mono, you have to have a strict diet and eat very well.  My diet, being completely honest, was not good the last three years.  I would eat pretty much whatever, having chocolates, just really bad (smiling).
But, yeah, that’s made a big difference.  I feel much better on the court.  I obviously still get tired just like everybody else.  At least my endurance is better and I feel like I’m recovering better because I’m filling myself with better nutrients and better fuel.
It’s actually ironic, the mono may have helped me in a way.  I’ve kind of stuck to the same diet I had been on when I had it.

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Everything.

Q.  Was there anything in your game today that you would have liked to improve for the next game?

RAFAEL NADAL:  Everything (smiling).  Everything at the end.  I didn’t play perfect match.  I played well.
The conditions out there today were very difficult.  I will say I did the right things to be in the next round.  To my opponent, the wind and the conditions probably affected much more than me is why that result.  But is very difficult to find great feelings when you are playing with these conditions out there.  The wind was very strong and very difficult to manage.
So I have to improve in everything.  But I happy in everything, too.

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Blame Canada.

Q.  You mentioned the US Open.  How different will that be this year, not being an American but being a Canadian?

JESSE LEVINE:  Could be pretty different (laughter).  Yeah, let’s just say I won’t have the support like I did here this week.
It’s funny ’cause when I made the switch back, once people realized that I was actually born in Ottawa, lived there till I was 14, they’re like, Oh, okay.  They didn’t realize that, thought I lived in the States my whole life.  Once they realize that, they’re kind of like, Okay, now we can’t really say anything.
But I’ll have my helmet on getting ready for the bottles to be thrown at me.  I don’t think they’ll be coming, but maybe some voices will be shouting at me.  I’ll have to block it out.

Q.  What kind of helmet?
JESSE LEVINE:  Ottawa Rough Riders helmet.

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At a certain point, they really do all run together.

Q.  I’m switching gears here, but I had a chance to talk to Martina Hingis last night and reflect on some of her early memories here at this tournament.  Do you recall anything about 2000 and the final against her when you had to bow out?  Do you have any memories of that that you can share?

SERENA WILLIAMS:  No.  I don’t remember that at all.  They announced today that I had been in the finals, and I was, like, When?  (Smiling).  I honestly thought it was 2011.  Was I in the final in 2011?
No, I won in ‑‑oh, no.  Well, 2009.  Was I in the final in 2009?  I think like ‑‑I don’t know.  Well, anyway…

Q.  You definitely don’t recall. 

SERENA WILLIAMS:  I don’t remember that.  Sorry.  (Smiling).

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I mean…

Q.  Unrelated to on the court, there is a table tennis in the players lounge.  Is that something that you do play and do a lot of players on the tour play?  How fun is it?  How enjoyable is it, just as an aside, to get away from on the court? 

NA LI:  You know, I don’t have to play.  I just stand there.  I say, I’m from China.  They say, Okay, get up here.  (Laughter).
No, joke.  I mean, I saw Srebotnik play today.  Then she was like, Hey, I’m Chinese table tennis.  I say, Okay, show me one point.  And opponent just serve and then she lose the ball.  I was like, This is not like Chinese table player.  She like, Get up here.  She was so angry she want to show me how good she is.
Yeah, I mean, I was try a little bit table tennis in like long time ago, but I think tennis is better so I give up.  (Smiling).

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Definitely.

Q.  Yes, first match on.  Your thoughts on having the ATP players playing prominent center‑court matches while the women are still here. 

ANA IVANOVIC:  Well, I mean, is it exhibition?

Q.  It’s an exhibition. 

ANA IVANOVIC:  I mean, it’s fun.  It’s definitely fun.  Who is playing in Montreal from the girls?

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So, apparently Gilles Simon has been playing with broken ribs and whooping cough. Sounds like a great plan.

Q.  After the pertussis, were you able to have rest and are you fit again?

GILLES SIMON:  No, I’m not fit.  This is my job, trying to do the best I can for the time being.  There’s nothing to dream about.  I’m still far from a normal level.

Q.  So where do you have pain right now?  You have your ribs and the cough.  Anything else?

GILLES SIMON:  Well, I have two broken ribs, but I’m not coughing anymore.  During a whole month, I wasn’t able to do anything at all.  I couldn’t even run.  With a broken rib you cannot play.  You can’t do any type of exercises.
Now that I’m playing again, everything hurts.  They say if you stop a month, it will take another month having pain everywhere.  Now it’s been two months, I’m starting to feel a bit better.  I might be able to get ready for Cincinnati.  I am only able to serve since yesterday.

Q.  How were your spirits during the period where you couldn’t do anything?

GILLES SIMON:  In the beginning I was thinking that maybe in the end of the season it would help me to feel more fresh, but when you have to stop like this, what you want to do is train a little bit so you will be ready when the pain goes away and starting training again will not be as painful.
In this particular case, I couldn’t do anything at all.  Now it hurts everywhere.

Q.  What hurts for the time being?

GILLES SIMON:  Well, my ribs still hurt.  But the time has come when the pain should subside.  So the goal is to be ready when the pain will go away.  I believe I wasted time in Washington because it was too early.  Now at least here I’m able to practice, which is good.

Q.  How did you break your ribs?

GILLES SIMON:  In Eastbourne and in Wimbledon, after that I really felt pain and I knew it was not normal.  I tried to rest.  I was coughing so much that I was losing my breath and I was vomiting.  I felt that deep pain in my ribs.
In Wimbledon I got an x‑ray, but the doctor said they couldn’t see anything.  After that it was still hurting.  I had a scan.  They said they couldn’t see anything either.  But I knew that something was hurting and it wasn’t normal.
Finally I had an ultrasound, and there we could see it.  I had two broken ribs.  So pertussis is supposed to make you stop playing tennis for one to three months, and a broken rib is six months, more or less.  But now things are getting better and finally I can play a little bit.

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Michael Llodra is also in the French infirmary, and is as charming as ever.

Q.  When did you start to feel that you had some difficulties and where was it?

MICHAEL LLODRA:  I got a tear in Wimbledon.  So I stopped tennis during four weeks.  I came back last week in Washington, tried to play.  Was getting better, but still sore on my elbow.
Every day was better, much better.  Since yesterday I feel, you know, bad, especially the serve.  So as you can see I serve like a girl maybe, I don’t know.  But was bad.  Sorry for that (smiling).

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Think before you speak, Canada.

Q.  Is the red in your hair a Canada thing?  Did you sort of want to match the flag or something?

VENUS WILLIAMS:  You know there is red in the U.S. flag too?  (Smiling).
Actually my hair was supposed to be pink, but it didn’t come out pink.  So it’s red.  So I had to be happy with that.  (Smiling).
But hopefully I will get it right next time.

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Blame Dani.

Q.  Can you tell us who’s responsible maybe out of the two of you for this partnership?  How exactly did it come about?

MARTINA HINGIS:  She is.  No, but when I was coaching, helping Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, I think that’s when she approached me and said, Oh, don’t you think to play doubles it would be great?  You still got it.
And she encouraged me ‑‑I needed some time to think about.  But then, you know, I was closer to the game again with Anastasia.  It helped me definitely to play, practice with her and see the game, see the matches that, you know, practicing also with her now in the last week, that helped a lot to kind of gain confidence to be able to play against players like we did today.