| Sunday, 6 July 2008 Written by Paul Kiernan The story of the 2008 Championships wasn’t just written on the 19 grass courts of The All England Club. A small theatre near centre court hosted the aftermath; the post-match press conferences. And from behind its curved wooden desk came accusations, excuses, and stories of cross dressing, unrequited love and a helipad for Court 18.
Fashions in the field "You know, I absolutely love trench coats. I live in Florida. I probably have more coats than anybody. I just love coats. I'm always buying Burberry coats. I mean, I love coats … I have a wonderful white coat I can wear on the court and also, you know, in New York for those rainy days." — Serena Williams really loves rain coats after unveiling her latest fashion creation, a rain coat
"It was fun doing it because it's hard to do things different with white. There's only so much you could do. I thought, ‘why not do shorts this year?’ I've never done it at a Grand Slam. If there's one place to do it, it's here." — Maria Sharapova on her choice of outfit, a tuxedo-style blouse and shorts
"I don't like her outfit. Can I put it this way? I liked her outfit at the French Open, so probably that's why." — Alla Kudyravtseva, who beat Sharapova, explains that not everyone liked her outfit
"It's obviously very flattering. Sometimes I take a peek at the picture, but that's about it." — Ana Ivanovic on her popularity with the British press
Marat – a man for all seasons "She didn't send me the charter. That's why I didn't come." — Marat Safin on why he did not attend sister Dinara Safina's Roland Garros final.
"It's my first semi-final, so levels are a little bit different. To beat Federer you need to be Nadal and run around like a rabbit and hit winners from all over the place." — Marat Safin on what he needs to beat Federer in the semi-finals
"They will be the greatest tennis players in the history. Because Nadal didn't lose a match on clay since, I don't know, he was 10 maybe. And Federer, he's going for his sixth Wimbledon. He definitely I think gonna pass the 14 Grand Slams. I hope for him. So I guess I can say to my kids that I played against him. And I think just also two great guys, to be honest. Really down-to-earth. Federer is quite funny. Nadal is also, he's there. No, very interesting. It's good to be with them in the same locker room." — Marat Safin on how Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be remembered "He sent me a letter. I've memorised it. It says, 'Sorry I can't come to the Ball, but good luck for your final tomorrow'. Then he signed it. It was really nice. I'm not sure who I'm going to take now that he's out of the picture. A bit disappointing actually." — Laura Robson explains her complex relationship with Marat Safin
Lucky escapes
"I just went to kiss the net because I felt so lucky. If it wasn't for that net and that place, you know, I would be booking my flight back home. I felt so, so lucky to be through today because she played really well and didn't make me feel like I was playing good." — Ana Ivanovic on the net-cord on match point that saved her going out of Wimbledon
"I was about to serve. I felt something on my leg. I looked down. It was a bee, a big old bumblebee. I didn't want it to sting me. I was trying to get it off without getting stung. You know how they usually fly back at you. Then I ended up losing that service game, so I guess the bumblebee got me off to a bad start." — Venus Williams was distracted by more than Naomi Cavaday on court Wimbledon wonderland
"I'm not superstitious. I'm no Goran Ivanisevic. No, I'm not like that, you know. Give me a different dish every day, different restaurant, I have no problem." — Roger Federer
“You feel like you're playing in a museum a little bit. I think that's why a lot of players enjoy it. Because you grew up as a tennis player knowing that Wimbledon is the most coveted title out of all Slams, I think it has that aura around it.” — Dmitry Tursunov on what makes Wimbledon a different Grand Slam to the others
"It's a great feeling. Wimbledon, you know, has the most history and tradition of any tournament. Being the only Canadian to win it is very special. I feel very fortunate to have won today, and we feel like we had to play our best to do it." — Daniel Nestor, men's doubles champion
Bitter defeats
"Any chance I got, I pretty much just choked it. So that's tough to deal with, and that's not something that you really want to do. That's disappointing. It's not an easy thing to say, but it's pretty much what happened. I could sit here and try to dance around it all night, but you guys watched it. It was what it was. It's like you want something so bad you almost squeeze too tight." — Andy Roddick after his loss to Janko Tipsarevic "I don't know what they are doing, you know, to put Venus on No. 2 and I'm on No. 18. So it was quite hard. I was almost playing in the parking lot. I almost need a helicopter to go to my court." — Jelena Jankovic is not impressed about playing her fourth round match on Court No.18, which she lost to Tamarine Tanasugarn
Book worms
"For the last few months I'm not reading as often as I used to. Some of the books that I was reading were kind of depressing. It didn't really help my tennis too much. I'm not saying that I'm a better tennis player because I stopped reading; it's just that I'm taking a break for a couple of months." — Janko Tipsarevic reveals why he's stopped reading serious books "I'm not sure what that girl in 2000 was thinking. I think she was reading like a Harry Potter book. You know, the 27-year-old Venus also read the Harry Potter book, so not much has changed. It's still good times, and I love that." — Vensus Williams on what has changed since her first win in 2000 Odds and ends
"First of all I will donate all my portion. Apart from that, I will do as much as I can to help the Sichuan region people because I'm from Sichuan province. After going back after the Wimbledon, when I go back, I will do more charity work and encourage more people to come to support the stricken region and hope people from Sichuan will have their new home as soon as possible." — Jie Zheng explains what she will do with her prizemoney and after the tournament
"My English is not very well. Especially when I am a little bit nervous on court worse." — Rafael Nadal explains his on-court reaction to an umpire's incorrect call
"You're calling me a veteran? I'm a veteran at 23 years old. Thanks for making me feel very old. I don't feel good at the moment." — Jelena Jankovic responds to being labelled a veteran by a journalist "I believe that was Virginia Wade or someone quite a long time ago." — 14-year-old Brit Laura Robson is asked if she knew who was the last great British female player "It's a tough call because I was not part of some of the great doubles players in the past. You know, I've just seen a couple on TV. I think John McEnroe, I heard a lot that he was an excellent doubles player. I actually heard Anders Jarryd was an excellent doubles player. The guy said if he put the ball back he took care of the rest. Those are two guys that are really good. But if you look to the records, you've got to give it to Todd Woodbridge. He's got all the records for doubles. It's not easy to pick one." — Jonas Bjorkman on who he thinks is the best doubles player in history "I think I gonna win." — Rafael Nadal is asked who would win a match between Rafael Nadal from 2008 and Rafael Nadal from 2007 "I just always assumed we would be the best because we worked so hard. It was kind of like natural, like we just expected it." — Serena Williams is asked if she ever thought her and her sister would be world champions Final thoughts "I don't? I wonder why." — Serena Williams is told she doesn’t look very happy in the press conference after her defeat in the ladies’ singles final
"Like five is really monumental. Like last year I thought four was incredible, but now five is - I would have been more disappointed about not being able to make the history than actually not winning the match, if that makes any sense. So more about that." — Venus Williams claims her fifth Wimbledon title "It's not up to us to judge if it was the best ever. I think it's up to fans and the media to debate. I'm happy we put in a great effort, Rafa and myself. You know, it was a fair battle, which was tough with the rain delays. You know, some great points. Really I just think we both played tough till the very end, you know. In tennis, unfortunately sometimes there has to be winners and losers. There's no draws. But I really had to push hard to come back. And I wasn't able to break him, I guess, in the last three sets, but still I pushed him right to the edge." — Roger Federer in his post-final press conference "I feel it. In the last game, I didn't see nothing. The true, I wasn't see nothing, no? Was unbelievable. I thought we have to stop. Well, if I lost the last game we have to stop, that's for sure. But at the same time when I was preparing for serve in the - how was the final score? 9-7? 10-8?" — Nadal in his post-final press conference
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