Q. Your bow had a lot of rhythm to it, tremendous depth. Some critics thought it might be a tad overproduced. Can you analyze it?
SERENA WILLIAMS: My bow didn't go the way I wanted. I didn't get my wrist action that I thought I would have, and then I got nervous. So my knee kind of got tight, and I felt a lot of pain in my left knee, so I couldn't get as low as I wanted to.
Q. So you're blaming your injuries?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I'm going to blame my injury....
Q. Yesterday Venus told me your curtsy was unreal. She also said you'd beat her in a curtsy‑off. Do you think there was too much hype for your curtsy?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, it was definitely too much hype. I feel like I had the number one curtsy and then I just got nervous. Next time I'll have to take more Advil.
I definitely handle pressure way better on the court than off. No comparison....
Q. How did you find playing on Court 2?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I have mixed feelings about that. You know, I don't think I should be out there. But in a way, I feel like, you know, with my popularity, it's cool to see ‑‑ when I was leaving, I stayed for a while, and I signed tons of autographs. A lot of these people can't get into the Centre Court and stuff.
Other than that, that definitely made up for it, to see fans I wouldn't normally see....
Q. You talked in Paris about the strings you're using, giving you more spin. Do you feel the same kind of effect here on the grass with the ball?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, always the same, no? The string can help you, but you are the person, you are the player, not the string. You play; the string doesn't play. That's my feeling.
Sure, the string can help you for moments, for maybe the string is better than the other one because give me the chance to feel the ball more time inside the racquet. That's give me a little bit more control. But that's my feeling, that you are the person. You lose, you win, not the string....
Q. How did you feel when you woke up this morning physically? What did you do to prepare for this afternoon's match? Did you weigh yourself today and whether you lost any weight?
JOHN ISNER: I actually haven't weighed. I told myself I wanted to do that. When I go back to the locker room, I will.
But I'm one of the heaviest guys actually, I am the heaviest guy on the tour. I have a little bit of excess in the stomach area (smiling). I knew that was going to come in handy one day. It was kind of the reserve tank.
It's not that I eat unhealthy. I work hard. I just can't get rid of it.
Q. Is it still there?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah. It went down a little bit, I think (smiling)....
Q. After shedding so much weight in the last 24 hours, do you think you would make a good face of Weight Watchers in America?
JOHN ISNER: I guess. It's not like I'm a heifer or anything (laughter). Maybe....
Q. Can you talk us through the bows? There was not one but three.
ANDY
MURRAY: Yeah, they are a little bit different. I only saw the second
one when I was warming down. I think they were sort of replaying it. It
wasn't great, I don't think (laughter).
But, no, went okay. We
planned it not planned it, but we talked about it on the way out to the
court with Jarkko and then at the end of the match to make sure we were
going to do it again, because obviously the players aren't used to doing
that at the end of matches.
...
Q. Can you explain what happened this morning? Did
you miss meeting the Queen? There's some suggestion you weren't there.
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, was disappointing for me. But, you know, the
Club knows, Wimbledon Club knows that before, because I have my routines
before the match. I had a very difficult match, before the match, I
know going to be a very difficult match. I had to practice around 12, so
was impossible for me.
Seriously I thought the Queen was going
to be in my match, and I would love to have the chance to meet her
after the match. But wasn't possible because I think the Queen left
before. For me was disappointing. I was excited to meet her. But was
very important match for me, too.
...
Q. How do you find your game suited for grass, which is a special
surface?
ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA: I don't know. I don't
really understand grass yet. Everyone is saying that my game is perfect
for the grass, but we'll see. I don't know.
...
Q. You showed a lot of commitment in your match today. Would you have
liked to see the French football team show an equal level of commitment
to that?
NICOLAS MAHUT: (No response.)
...
Q. You said this was like a dream. In some ways, is this even
better than a dream? And what did Andy get you for takeout?
JOHN ISNER: Andy just brought me all sorts of stuff. It was for my coach and my trainer. There was three boxes of pizza, all sorts of chicken and mashed potatoes, anything. I would have eaten 12 BicMacs.
...
Q. Did she have any words of encouragement for you?
CAROLINE
WOZNIACKI: Well, she just wished me good luck in the tournament. Yeah,
well, I don't even remember I was so nervous (laughter).
...
Q. I know it isn't exactly the women's case, but how do you feel
about those guys playing more than 200 games maybe? You think it should
be decided by a tiebreaker?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I'd be
checking myself into the local hospital at that point (smiling).
...
Q. Is there something that keeps you patient and mentally fastened on
what's going on, some sort of magic word?
JOHN ISNER: No. I
don't know. A lot of times in situations like that, I always find myself
very, very calm and controlled.
I think I learned that in my
time in college, playing a lot of, you know, pressure filled matches.
Obviously it's not the magnitude that this is.
That's something
that Coach Diaz at Georgia was really good at, was able to really make
me a lot mentally stronger. That's one of the reasons, you know, I'm
here today, what I'm doing right now.
...
Q. What did you say when you walked off for the bathroom break, and
what did you say after the match?
JOHN ISNER: I apologized
because I really had to go. I didn't want to stop because none of us
were taking any breaks. I'm sure both of us could have used a trainer at
some point in that fifth set. Neither one of my pinky toes has any skin
on 'em. I could have used some sort of taping there. I'm sure he could
have used something as well.
I didn't want to disrupt the flow,
but I couldn't hold it anymore.
...
Q. We see every year at Roland Garros French players don't do so well
in their home tournament. It's been not as long as Fred Perry for here,
but French players haven't won in Paris for a while. Do you admire the
way Andy Murray handles the pressure at Wimbledon? Because he's our only
player, where you've got lots of good players.
GILLES
SIMON: For sure he's alone. But for us, yes, we have the pressure, but
we are many players, so it's a little bit easier.
For him it's
hard, because you know, I have an apartment right here. The guy told me,
Murray didn't win anything for the last six months. That's a shame.
Come on, he's playing good. He played a little final in Australia.
He
said, No, no, no. He didn't win. He has to win. So I can feel a little
bit the pressure he have.
But I just think he's doing the
maximum. Last year he reached the semifinal; it was a good result, I
think. He played a nice match, even if he lost this one. I think he's
doing good.
...
Q. We saw your mom was on court today with tears at the end. Have you
spoken to her? What did she say?
JOHN ISNER: I haven't
spoken to her yet.
Q. She was crying her eyes out.
JOHN
ISNER: Yeah, she's a mom (smiling).
...
Q. But the body still felt good?
NICOLAS MAHUT:
(Tearing up.)
...
Q. The Queen is famous for her gift of brief small talk. What was
your exchange?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't remember. Honestly, I
was supposed to say, Your Majesty. I totally choked. I was like, Hey,
nice to meet you, total American style. And then, you know, she started
talking. Then I was like, Your Majesty, while she was talking. I don't
know, so...
Really, maybe she'll remember me (laughter).
Q.
Andy Roddick tweeted she said to him, I love your work on all the
American Pie films. People thought it wasn't a joke. It shows that
people don't get a lot of the tweets.
SERENA WILLIAMS: I
didn't hear that, so... I'm definitely going to tease him about that.
Q.
What did you call the Queen? Did you say, Hey, girl?
SERENA
WILLIAMS: She shakes your hand. Lovely to meet you. Next thing I know,
you're supposed to say, Your Majesty. She's talking. I'm like, Oh, Your
Majesty.
Q. She had the blue outfit, great matching
old‑school hat. What did you think of the outfit?
SERENA
WILLIAMS: I really liked it. It was definitely good for her. It was
nice, it was great, it was conservative. It was a nice tweed. It was
perfect.
Q. She does blue well?
SERENA WILLIAMS:
She does blue well.
