FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Lenox Rawlings described John Isner as “a cooked stork staggering under the broiling sun.” Said Isner, “I feel I expend more energy than anyone else. Even Shaquille O’Neal in his heyday wasn’t running up and down the floor with point guards. When it’s really hot, I do kind of struggle with the heat.”
I AM THE PLAYER I AM: Told that Mary Joe Fernandez and other analysts feel she needs to develop a potent weapon in order to win a Grand Slam, Caroline Wozniacki, shot back, “They can say what they want. I’m the type of player I am. I’ve won a lot of tournaments. I’m No. 1 in the world. Of course I can still improve. There are a lot of things to my game I can still improve, but everyone can.”
IRISH EYES ARE SMILING: Conor Niland and Louk Sorensen both made it into the U.S. Open’s main draw, marking the first time there have been two Irishmen at a Grand Slam in the Open Era.
A BROKEN THOUGHT: Asked if he ever considered playing football in his Cornhusker-crazed home state of Nebraska, Jack Sock confessed, “I’d get broken in half.”
IS CORONA REALLY BEER?: When ESPN noted that his coach stopped drinking beer, Novak Djokovic said, “If you don’t count Corona as a beer, he’s not drinking beer.”
GO FIGURE: With the absence of the injured Kim Clijsters and the first-round losses of Li Na and Petra Kvitova, this year’s Open is the first since ’71 in which none of the winners of the year’s three previous Grand Slams made it to the second round.
YOU PLAYED LIKE WHAT?: After losing 6-2, 7-5 to Romanian Simone Halep, Li Na said she “played like s—.”
CURIOUS DIALOG
REPORTER: “Why the delay between the first and second set?”
SANIA MIRZA: “I went to change my clothes.”
REPORTER: “Why did you change clothes?”
SANIA MIRZA: “Do I have to give a reason why I changed clothes?”
THE NUMBERS
80-0: Jack Sock‘s record in high school.
QUOTEBOOK
“Try being a British player going into a Grand Slam. It’s not easy.” — Andy Murray
“I think there were only two teenagers to play tennis in Nebraska in the last 30 years and we’re both at the U.S. Open. Maybe we’re missing something. Maybe we need the corn-fed boys.” — Andy Roddick on himself and newcomer Jack Sock
“Everyone’s light turns on at their own time. I’m starting to feel like mine is turning on.” — Donald Young, a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 first-round winner over Lukas Lacko
“He’s able to play riskier because his service is like State Farm.” — Andy Roddick on John Isner
“I can’t hit a drop shot on my backhand side — you wouldn’t want to see that.” —John Isner
“She’s one of the best 15-year-olds you can see today in America or I think in the world. If you just give her a few years, I think she’ll be beating a hell of a lot of people. I think she’s better than my daughters at that time.” — Richard Williams on 15-year-old lefthander Taylor Townsend
“Hopefully, after 13 years on tour, I can develop a better serve.” — 33-year-old Michael Russell, who pushed Andy Roddick in a four-set 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 first-round loss
