Words, Warmth, Wolves: The First Week of Wimbledon in Quotes

You Should Know: Jon Wertheim on Novak Djokovic's grass-court play

The undisputed star of Wimbledon's first week wasn’t resurgent Andy Murray, good sport Ash Barty, elegant Roger Federer or top-ranked Novak Djokovic. It was that cherished component of The Championships: the spectators. They were back, enthusiastic, fair and knowledgeable as ever. Back, loving and beloved.

True, continuing Covid protocols kept the first-week crowd at 50 percent capacity (by the semifinals, the All England Club expects to get clearance for full capacity) but the vibe at Wimbledon last week was one of normalcy. With luck, the event will go down as the knockout opening act of the post-pandemic era.

Sorana Cirstea put the attitude of the players into perspective, after advancing to the third round via an upset of Victoria Azarenka:

“It was emotional. I think after playing already for a year with empty stadiums, we're not used to this (fans) anymore. Like, I get goosebumps even now. At the end when they were clapping, I almost dropped tears, but of joy. It's definitely special for us.”

Many players expressed similar sentiments, but the pros provided plenty of other noteworthy comments as well. So let’s revisit the first week of Wimbledon in quotes, some of which have been edited for brevity or clarity.

I think for her to be able to be the first [Aboriginal] one to pave that path was really showing that no matter what anyone says, you can go out there and believe in your dreams, put your dreams out to the universe, and you never know what can quite happen if you're willing to work for it and get after it.” Top seed Ash Barty, when asked to comment on the 50th anniversary of Goolagong’s first win at Wimbledon. Goolagong and Barty share Aboriginal heritage.

I see no difference whether I win this tournament or whether I leave early. I am a happy person regardless of the outcome of the next two weeks. I'm grateful that I'm able to live the way I live. Stefanos Tsitsipas, the French Open runner-up, in his pre-tournament press conference. Seeded No. 3, the Greek star had the opportunity to test his sentiments when he was beaten in the first round by Frances Tiafoe.

But why not? Of course, that would be nice to see. They deserve it. I will be in favor for it. Top-seeded and defending champion Novak Djokovic, when asked after he played the traditional first match on Centre Court how he would feel about Wimbledon alternating the honor between the men's and women's defending champions. The “gentlemen’s singles” champion has traditionally started the proceedings.

Covid was not great for me since I had so much time at home and I just kept buying plants. My boyfriend was basically every day, he's, like, ‘You can't keep buying more plants.’ And I was, like, ‘Well, there's space, so I guess I can.’ Madison Keys, who loves plants and gardening, reflecting on her time in quarantine following a positive Covid test that kept her off the tour earlier in the year.

To be honest with you, someone tweeted me a stat this year on Twitter. I don't know if it's true or not, they said I played 700 career matches. It makes me feel like I'm in my mid 30s. I'm only 27. But a lot of those matches were very bad tennis. I'm very accustomed to dealing with bad tennis. Liam Broady, a British wild card ranked No. 143, on his career following a first-round win over Italy’s Marco Cecchinato.

It's, like, Wow, everything was pretty average, and then all of a sudden your whole tennis career changes. The perspective of your game and the expectation, like, everything changes. Sloane Stephens, who upset former champion Petra Kvitova in the first round, on what happens when a struggling player or neophyte goes on an attention-grabbing hot streak.

The more matches you win, the better you do, the better the meal is. It's like, you know, I'm out here trying to eat. Steak dinners aren't going to pay for themselves, nice dinners aren't going to pay for themselves. You got to perform and you got to win. That's kind of the story behind it. Tiafoe, when asked about his victory celebration (he pretended to be eating from an imaginary bowl) following his first-round upset of Tsitsipas.

Feeling the extraordinary warmth and support of the crowd today when I walked on—and off—the court meant the world to me. Serena Williams, in a brief statement after she was forced to retire with a knee injury at 3-all in the first set of her first-round match with Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

When I win one, people are going to ask, I don't know, ‘Why don't you win 10?’ Or something like this. There is always going to be something that will be a question. No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev, who is running neck-and-neck with Tsitsipas for the honor of being the best male player who hasn’t won a major.

“I wasn't disappointed. I'm here to play. I'm here to play on whatever court I'm put on. As long as I win on that court, that's all I care about. . .Court 3 is quite a nice court. I have a lot of great memories on that court, singles and doubles. To me it was like going home. . .But thank you for your sentiment. Five-time champion Venus Williams, when a reporter asked if she was upset that she was scheduled to play her first match on Court No. 3.

I mean, of course it feels great to be told that. .. I think the best part was that I met him (Boris Becker) as soon as I got here. He was walking by. He stopped. I was surprised because he knew who I was. He made me feel good. He told me, ‘Well done. Now we have something in common.’ I was like, Yeah, I wish I have everything in common, like all the titles and stuff. I'll try to get there. Matteo Berrettini, the champion at Queen's Club, when asked if he might follow in the footsteps of the German great, who won Queen's and then ran the table at Wimbledon in his debut.

I was just letting her know, ‘Don't let this crush you,’ because matches like this can really hurt or break a player. I don't want it to break her. I want her to build on this, and next time when she has a match like this, maybe even against me or against someone else, that she knows what to do and come out on top.” Coco Gauff, on what she said at the net after defeating British wild card Francesca Jones in the first round. Due to a rare genetic condition, Jones was born with a thumb and three fingers on each hand, and with only seven toes.

I hope the fans like it, and don't think that it's a bit weird that I'm sort of staring at them and screaming at them for like an hour, but they seem to enjoy it, as well. Murray, explaining how he targets certain individual spectators and makes them his focus as he tries to whip the crowd into a frenzy.

Some days you feel like you're eight-foot-tall and can't miss the box. Other days you feel like you're three-foot-nothing, just getting over the net is a bit of a battle. Barty, describing her serving woes after a ragged second-round win over Anna Blinkova.

Yeah, they know it's a bit of a show. They just want entertainment at the end of the day. Like a couple screaming out asking normal questions about Tottenham Hotspur. It's a bit odd. It's crazy out there. I have people in the front row literally coaching me, like literally telling me, ‘That's all right, good ball, great return, it will work next time, good depth.’ I'm like, ‘Dude, what is going on out here?’ Nick Kyrgios, commenting on his showmanship and ability to engage spectators.

Not really. Azarenka, formerly No. 1 and a multiple Grand Slam singles champ, when asked if she’d like to “share her thoughts” after being upset by Cirstea.

I spent a lot of time in the mountains. With wolves. It's a wolf energy. Djokovic, when asked after his third-round win where he got his “animal hunger” to succeed.

I don't think anyone in life has anything to prove, you know. Each and every person can only breathe for themselves. No one else can breathe for you. No one has anything to prove to anyone in this life. The only thing you have to do is pay your taxes or else you're going to jail. Venus Williams, when asked if she were trying to prove something by continuing to compete despite declining results at age 41.

He doesn't care if some people will not like him for this. That's what I like in him. So many players nowadays, maybe including me, think, ‘If I'm going to do this, there is going to be 10 comments after the match that I shouldn't have done it.’ We all think about it. He doesn't. That's what makes him different. Daniil Medvedev on rapidly improving loose cannon and underarm serve aficionado Alexander Bublik.

I don't know. I wasn't expecting all this success so early. My parents were always so big into just baby steps, baby steps. [They said] You have a different journey than everybody else. Sebastian Korda, 20, after defeating British hope Dan Evans on Centre Court to reach the fourth round.

I have been in situations where players use that medical timeout to get (throw) their opponent off, usually when they are losing badly. . . She can say she was injured. I don't think she was. There was nothing wrong with her the whole match, but then why at 4-0 [in set three] she calls it? Ajla Tomljanovic, explaining why she audibly called her opponent Jelena Ostapenko “a liar” late in the third-round match that Tomljanovic went on to win, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

If I'm going to put that much effort in, I want to be performing better than what I did here. Even though there were some great moments. Murray, after running out of gas and losing in straight sets in the third round to Denis Shapovalov.

I've turned all my notifications off on my phone. I just know whenever my phone buzzes, it's like Apple News telling me what's going on. I have actually received a few emails from my school teachers. My math teacher emailed me today congratulating me. It's just been great to receive messages from my schoolmates as well.” Eighteen-year old high school student Emma Raducanu, after becoming the youngest British woman to reach the fourth round in the Open era.

Maybe [it was] one of the first times I just felt very much at peace out there, really sort of a tranquility I guess to everything I was doing—where I wanted to serve, how I wanted to win my service games. . .then how I took misses, how I took wrong choices and I just brushed them off. It was like we're moving on, things are going well. . .This is how I want it to be. Federer, who targeted Wimbledon following a long layoff, upon finding his game as he advanced to the fourth round.