Say what?! Best quotes (so far) of the Australian Open

Sometimes the best moments come when the players address topics beyond forehands and backhands on the court. 

Here are some of the best moments from player press conferences so far at the Australian Open in 2018 …

Federer the superhero

Q. Yesterday we saw you play alongside the Marvel superheroes. If you could have a super power, what would it be and what would you use it for?
ROGER FEDERER: “Yeah, flying. The hammer, Thor’s hammer.”

Kyrgios and friends

Q. You’re friends with the American football player Colin Kaepernick, have been supportive of him in the past. Where are your thoughts on him not being resigned by an American?
NICK KYRGIOS: “I don’t think I’ve ever spoken a word to him in my life.”

Q. What are your thoughts about that?
NICK KYRGIOS: “I mean, where is that question even coming from? We’re at the Australian Open, man. Are we done?”

Halep’s unconventional outfit

Q. Are you going to stick to your red dress from Shenzhen for here?
SIMONA HALEP: “Yes, same.”

Q. How does it work? If you don’t have a clothing supplier, do you go to the shop?
SIMONA HALEP: “No, I ordered. How do you call the ladies that are making the clothes?”

Q. Seamstress.
SIMONA HALEP: “Yeah, I sent a picture. Was a site, in China actually, and one of my managers helped me, and in 24 hours I had the outfit, and were perfect (smiling). I was lucky.”

Q. How did you find them?
SIMONA HALEP: “On Internet.”

Q. You just searched on the Internet?
SIMONA HALEP: “Yes. Everything is on Internet now (smiling). I was a little bit stressed.”

Davis’ battle scars

After falling 15-13 to Halep in the third set of their near four-hour quarterfinal …

Q. Did your nail actually come off?
LAUREN DAVIS: “It’s about to (smiling).”

Q. I think many of us have lost toenails. How difficult is it to try to play through that?
LAUREN DAVIS: “Yeah, it was very difficult. I had never really had that happen before. They have been sore but not like that. Like I said, I couldn’t really put any pressure on them. It also took me by surprise because it came on so suddenly. I mean, it’s honestly like a quick fix. It will probably take a week to heal or something.”

Celebrity wisdom

Q. How do you go in this hot weather? 38 today, 39 tomorrow. Do you have any tips for anyone looking to stay cool today?
WILL FERRELL: “You know, everyone says hydrate. I don’t. I don’t drink any fluids except for I drink a lot of clam chowder. I don’t know if you guys call it down here clam chowder. Hot, thick soups. That’s the way to go. And hot milk. Yes.”

Svitolina speaks

Q. What would be, I guess, the one lesson or piece of advice you would give to (15-year-old compatriot Marta Kostyuk) at the moment?
ELINA SVITOLINA: “I’m not good with these kind of things because I don’t want to seem like a ‘wise ass.'”

Forgetful Konta

Q. You said on Twitter that you were really sad that you left blueberries…
JOHANNA KONTA: “Oh, my goodness. I don’t want to talk about it. Honestly. I messaged everybody. Literally everybody on my team. Has this happened to anyone else? I went to the supermarket to buy blueberries. I only bought blueberries, two pints. I left two pints of blueberries there. It’s $5 I won’t get back. It’s actually more the betrayal in my own mind I feel so upset about. I was so sad.

“Clearly I’m not over the blueberry debacle. No, I’m happy to come through today and I’m just looking forward to playing again on Thursday. I now need to go again to buy blueberries.”

Age is just a number …

Q. You turn 30 tomorrow. Do you feel like you’re entering a sort of second phase of your career?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: “Yeah, getting older. I was waking up this morning, I say, Okay, the 2 is gone right now (smiling).

“I think, yeah, I’m looking forward to the 30s. Also, you know, I mean, I’m feeling the same like yesterday. I am feeling healthy. I’m still fit. I still enjoy my tennis. I’m not looking too much about the age, just how I’m feeling. I’m still feeling young.”

Why me?

After an eventful win over Viktor Troicki in round two …

Q. These kind of distractions seem to keep happening at your matches. Do you ever think, Why me?

NICK KYRGIOS: “I think obviously it’s pretty easy to think, Why me? The guy in the crowd was crazy. I didn’t really know what was going on. The helicopter, that’s when I was thinking like, Of course, it’s at my match. It’s just hovering there. Of course, it is. But that actually made it tough. It was tough to return. Hearing the ball actually come off the racquets is a pretty big thing. I missed four returns. I’m just going to blame it on the helicopter. Yeah, there were a lot of things going on there today.

Q. The guy (who was ejected for disrupting the match) went on social media claiming it’s the greatest thing he’s ever done in his life. Any thoughts to that?
NICK KYRGIOS: “Good on him. Little claim to fame. Let him have it.”

Lesson learned

Q. What did you take from that experience (of losing to Elina Svitolina 6-2 6-2 in the third round) today?
MARTA KOSTYUK: “Well, a lot. How much you have to pay Svitolina to have one-hour lesson, so I got it for free.”