Tennis players once again show that they can slam an ace behind the microphone too. US Open winner Sloane Stephens may probably take the cake for her unscripted, endearing soundbites, scarcely able to conceal her excitement as she hoped over from one giant upset to another.

Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova, meanwhile, were embroiled in a war of words. Among men, 16-time Grand Slam winner’s tongue-in-cheek response to a question about his old rival Roger Federer had the world in splits. Here are a select few of them:

  • “When you look on Center Court, I understand completely the business side of things, but someone who comes back from a drugs sentence – performance enhancing drugs – and all of a sudden gets to play every single match on Center Court, I think that’s a questionable thing to do.” – Caroline Wozniacki criticising the decision to schedule all of Maria Sharapova’s matches on Arthur Ashe court in her first Grand Slam appearance since serving a 15-month doping ban.
  • “I’m a pretty big competitor. If you put me out in the parking lot of Queens in New York City, I’m happy to play there. That’s not what matters to me. All that matters to me is I’m in the fourth round. I’m not sure where she is.”– Sharapova’s cutting response
  • “I don’t want to look like I gonna be his boyfriend, no?”– Rafael Nadal in being asked to sum up Roger Federer’s contribution to the sport. 
  • “Of course, Girl. Did you see that cheque that lady handed me? Like, yes. Man, if that doesn’t make you want to play tennis, I don’t know what will. Man.”– Sloane Stephens on her motivation to win a second Slam after clinching the women’s title.  
  • “I was worried about my b*** sweat. Because I was, like, this is a picture they are probably going to use and I look terrible. That’s what I remember most about the picture. Sorry.”– Stephens again  
  • “I always wanted to be young. Even when I was 8 years old, I was not very happy, when it was my birthday, to be 9. Still the same. I am 31 and I am not happy when my birthday is going to be 32.”– Nadal on getting older 
  • “I’m not going to be talking about gambling. You have other questions or not? We’re finished.”– Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov fumes at reporters after his name was linked to a betting investigation.  
  • “I’m definitely available to answer questions about tennis. That’s all right now.”– Venus Williams refusing to confirm that sister Serena has given birth to a baby girl.  
  • “I hope she’s not a tennis player.”– Garbine Muguruza on Serena’s baby  
  • “I was named after the mermaid in Splash and I always thought it was really cool there was a street in a big city that had the same name as me. So from then on, I was always, ‘I want to go there and get a picture next to it.’ – US Open runner-up Madison Keys