Say what? U.S. Open weekend quote roundup

Andy Roddick thanked the media for focusing on Americans' success at the U.S. Open (EPA)

A roundup of the best quotage from players during the weekend at the U.S. Open.

• "I don't think it's odd that someone's cramping.  I'm sure a lot of people were surprised because it was him that was cramping, but Rafa's human.  I think some people forget that sometimes."

-- Andy Murray, echoing the sentiments from most players, who weren't surprised about Rafael Nadal's cramping incident.

• "You're our voice.  When people hear you guys talking about it positively, they come out and support, they believe, and it really does affect it.  So thank you for your positive stories in the last week.  No, seriously."

-- Andy Roddick, to journalists as he discusses the American success in Week 1.

• "What's it like?  It's painful."

-- Victoria Azarenka, on what it felt like when Serena Williams built a 5-0 lead in 17 minutes.

• "When I was playing juniors, my first U.S. Open, I was 14, I think, and I was in love with Gael Monfils. Like, he was it. Like, I was going to marry him. That was it. Never talked to me. Never even spoke to the guy in my life. Two days ago, whenever I played Shahar [Peer], we rode back in the van together to the hotel. He is the nicest person in the world, but I'm definitely not going to marry him."

-- Sloane Stephens, on her "tennis player crush," Gael Monfils.

• "They're not quite there yet.  And they don't try to imitate me either, or it doesn't look like it.  They try hard, but they get discouraged after 30 seconds.  They just, OK, pick up the doll that's in the room instead.  I'm happy about that. But who knows?  Maybe in the next six months I think there's going be a lot of changes. They are going to get much more into activities.  They love their swimming and so forth.  I'm happy to see them enjoying the sports."

-- Roger Federer, on whether his 2-year-old twin girls pick up a racket and try to imitate him.

• "That's just a matter of what part of your body cramps.  Cramp in your ass, you can't sit on it anymore.  Makes it tough."

-- Andy Roddick, in response to concerns about Nadal's cramping episode causing him to slide off his chair.

• "I prefer not to knock out anyone. I'm a nice girl, so ... or I like to think so."

-- Caroline Wozniacki, on whether she would prefer to punch a tennis opponent or a member of the media.

• "I lost track of the score. Didn't know at one point if I was serving or receiving or when we should be changing ends, what was going on. Obviously, with all those challenges in the tiebreak as well, it was super exciting. The crowd was really into it. Couldn't really hear myself think at times because it was so loud.

"Obviously, it ended up being a record, so I've got another record here at the U.S. Open, which is cool. But it was a shame I didn't win it."

-- Sam Stosur, on the record-breaking 32-point tiebreak she played against Maria Kirilenko on Sunday night.

Donald Young is enjoying the best run of his career at a Grand Slam tournament. (Reuters)

• "You just don't quit work if you're a smart person and sit around if you want to eat and have a lifestyle you enjoy. But, like I say, I love tennis. It wasn't that I didn't love tennis; I just hated losing."

-- Donald Young, on what kept him motivated during the tough times.

• "You can't go from not playing at all ‑‑ OK, when a guy is shooting baskets at a shootaround, do you want him to go straight out and start shooting 26‑footers?  I'm assuming he shoots 10‑footers first, correct? It's kind of the same method.  I can't go out and start ripping every ball if I haven't had the match play to execute that, and it would be stupid to try it. So there is a process to it.  It doesn't always look pretty.  I've won close to 600 matches. I promise you 450 have been of the ugly sort, but that's what I do well.  I'm not going to apologize for it."

-- Andy Roddick, on the progression required when battling back from injury.

• "Seriously, I didn't. I need to be big concentration to read the book in English, and I know my life."

-- Rafael Nadal, on whether he's read his book, Rafa.

• "I haven't always been known for my competitiveness out there, to really fight hard. But for it to come out back-to-back days, it's definitely very rewarding. I know now I can do it."

-- Sam Stosur, on being able to pull out two straight competitive three-set wins.

• "I was in a pretty bad place probably around Indian Wells, Miami time.  It was a tough, tough part of the year for me.  It's more sort of not so much revenge against Donald; it's more for the situation I was in there and making sure that I can kind of move on from that."

-- Andy Murray, on his next match against Donald Young, who beat the world No. 4 at Indian Wells in March.

• "Definitely not."

-- A smiling Donald Young, on whether his Twitter blowup in April was a good thing.

• "Every person, every character is different. Some people need a person there; other people don't. In my case, I always said without him, big chances to not be here without him. So I only can say thanks to him for everything. I know he was tough with me a lot of times, especially in the past. Not now. When I was a kid especially. Now, no. I am 25, and the relationship, like everything, changed a little bit around the years. But because of him, today I have this under control. I have good control of myself inside the court. I am positive. Because of him I probably can resist the pressure these years, because I practiced with pressure all my life. For me, it's nothing really strange when I feel the pressure when I am on court."

-- Rafael Nadal, on his relationship with his coach and uncle, Toni.

• "I was feeling really bad.  I think it was because it's really humid today.  It's hot.  And also, when you are there you have a lot of emotion in the court.  My body just needed to breathe, and I started maybe to have the sensation of throwing up. But ... nothing inside so it didn't come out."

-- Flavia Pennetta, on her dry-heaving episode during her match against Peng Shuai on Sunday afternoon.

• "No, it's not like the Petko dance.  Petko has already marked her dance.  I have to invent a name for mine."

-- Novak Djokovic, on whether his post-match celebration has a name.

• "I think playing on Ashe is definitely really boosted up, as if, Oh, my God, you're playing on Ashe, you're American, you're playing at night, you're playing prime time, you're this and that. I think that really got boosted up way more than it was, because every court is the same size no matter how many people are there. I kind of got caught up in that: Oh, my God, I'm playing on Ashe at night, playing a former Grand Slam champion. I just kind of got lost in it. There's no defense to that. That's totally obviously my fault. But I'm just going to say that I'm 18 and I'm not that disappointed in myself because I could have easily lost [6-]0, [6-]0, but I didn't. So at least you guys got to see some tennis."

-- Sloane Stephens, on struggling with nerves while playing her first night match on Ashe, against Ana Ivanovic.

Caroline Wozniacki has been taking advice from a new coach who has to be identified. (EPA/Landov)

• "Move your feet."

-- Caroline Wozniacki, on the best advice she's received from her super-secret coach.

• "Woke up on the right side of the bed this morning, I guess.  I don't know.  The way my game is evaluated changes daily, so I guess I'm a master net player today."

-- Andy Roddick, on why he's a more aggressive net player these days.

• "I have no idea.  That's a silly question.  Sorry."

-- Victoria Azarenka, on the distance between Serena and the rest of the field.

• "It's maybe not the length of the season, but there's so many mandatory tournaments you have to play.  You basically have like 16 mandatory events now during the year.  It's just too long.  And then obviously, like with Davis Cup, it always comes pretty much the week after the Slams, too. It's quite a long stretch. I mean, like after here, it will be like nine weeks since I've been home.  That's quite a long stretch, and it happens quite a few different times of the year.

"I just think, yeah, guys get tired.  If you don't look after your body properly and you don't have the right people around you ...  Like I'm lucky now to be in a position to have guys with me all the time. But when I was younger, it's the same.  If you don't have that luxury of being able to have guys, then it's going to be difficult to keep your body healthy throughout the year."

-- Andy Murray, on how the length of the tennis season may have affected the record number of retirements at the U.S. Open.

• "Could some guys finish the matches?  I'm sure, but they didn't decide to. It is shocking to see so many retirements.  I have never retired in my whole life except once when I played against [James] Blake in Paris, but I didn't even walk on to the court. It doesn't matter how bad I'm feeling, I will be out there and giving it a try, because you never know what's going to happen. Look, every player feels different.  It's unfortunate it happen for the fans, I guess."

-- Roger Federer, disappointed in the number of mid-match retirements this year.

• CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: "The worst advice? My brother is in the back. Maybe he can help me out a little bit."

PATRIK WOZNIACKI: "You got some maybe last week from dad."

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: "OK, change the subject."

-- A light-hearted Caroline Wozniacki, on the worst advice she ever received from her parents.

• "Well, I don't care what people say about me, so why should I care what people say about her?"

Vania King