\u201cHow much money do you have?\u201d\u00a0
\u2013 former world No.1 Steffi Graf, reacting to a marriage proposal at Wimbledon in 1996<\/p>\n
Mid-match mock marriage proposals from fans aren\u2019t exactly rare on tour, but to illicit a response from a world No.1 in a Grand Slam semifinal on Wimbledon\u2019s Centre Court is no mean feat. More focused on carving her way to 22 majors throughout the \u201980s and \u201990s, Graf was not renowned for her crowd interactions, but during a three-set battle against Japan\u2019s Kimiko Date in 1996 the German great made an exception. \u201cSteffi, will you marry me?\u201d one spectator yelled, which drew a wry smile\u00a0from Graf and laughter from the crowd. \u201cHow much money do you have?\u201d quipped Graf, who proceeded to drop serve in that game. \u201cI lost the game, so I think \u00a0I\u2019ll ask for a divorce now,\u201d she later told the New York Times.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trouble with me is that every match I play against five opponents: umpire, crowd, ball boys, court and myself.\u201d\u00a0
\u2013 Goran Ivanisevic<\/p>\n
The struggle to keep emotions in check set Ivanisevic and any observers on the wildest of rides throughout his 16-year career. Quick-witted and self-deprecating, the fiery Croatian always wore his heart on his sleeve and conceded he had to juggle ‘good Goran’ with ‘bad Goran’ \u2013 an internal struggle that often fluctuated between casual grins upon moments of lefty brilliance to explosive\u00a0racquet smashes when he capitulated. After three Wimbledon final defeats \u2013 one to Andre Agassi\u00a0and two to Pete Sampras \u2013 Ivanisevic joked the latter of the two \u201cruined at least 20 years of my life\u201d before he finally realised his dream in 2001 over Pat Rafter.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAgainst him I don\u2019t really need to be a step and a half quicker.\u201d\u00a0
\u2013 Pete Sampras, firing back at Greg Rusedski<\/p>\n
Pete Sampras delivered the ultimate low-key sign-off when he snuck off into retirement as the most prolific men\u2019s Grand Slam champion at the time following his 2002 US Open triumph. During the American great\u2019s unexpected run to the silverware as the 17th seed he denied Greg Rusedski in the third round, which drew a not-so-subtle dig from the vanquished Brit. \u201cI lost the match rather than he won the match \u2026 he\u2019s half a step slower,\u201d Rusedski said. \u201cI\u2019d be surprised if he wins his next match against Haas. To be honest with you, I\u2019d be very surprised.\u201d Sampras had the last laugh after he beat Haas en route to the title, but not before he returned fire to Rusedski.<\/p>\n
\u201cI threw the kitchen sink at him, but he went into the bathroom and got the tub.\u201d\u00a0
\u2013 Andy Roddick, after losing to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon 2004 final<\/p>\n
Federer was the bane of most opponents\u2019 existence \u2013 none more so than Andy Roddick\u2019s at Wimbledon. The Swiss ended their rivalry with a 21-3 record, unbeaten in eight Grand Slam showdowns including four at Wimbledon \u2013 three of those in the final at the All England Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like a cow on ice.\u201d\u00a0
\u2013 Maria Sharapova<\/p>\n
Power and aggression were the cornerstones of Sharapova\u2019s game style and in her early years that reaped greatest rewards on faster surfaces. The former No.1 had no trouble conceding her shortcomings sliding on clay, which was ironic given Roland Garros ended up the only major at which she triumphed twice. Before her 2012 and 2014 titles in Paris, Sharapova\u2019s movement on the terre battue came into focus despite a straightforward win over American Jill Craybas in the second round in 2007. \u201cI feel like a cow on ice,\u201d Sharapova said, having never passed the quarterfinals at the time. \u201cEspecially on clay. I don\u2019t play on clay for the other 10 months of the year. It\u2019s not as\u00a0natural for me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cHow much money do you have?\u201d\u00a0\u2013 former world No.1 Steffi Graf, reacting to a marriage proposal at Wimbledon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-283375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}