Honey Deuces, oversized tennis balls covered in autographs, action on every court across the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center? Must be the 2024 US Open. We’ve got the best quotes from Day 5 in Flushing Meadows. Here’s the latest from Naomi Osaka, Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz and more:
“I do take these losses really personally. It’s a dramatic word, but I feel like my heart dies every time I lose.” — Naomi Osaka
“When I’m on the court, my mind is boiling, constantly boiling. Sometimes it’s frustration, sometimes with good emotions. It’s like tea: It just comes out, comes out even if I don't want it to. It just boils.” — Daniil Medvedev
“Ashe is a very American court, and they’re always rooting for the American, and especially me. They really got behind me.” — Coco Gauff
“It was a fight against myself.” — Carlos Alcaraz
“In my own head I’ll probably always be under the radar just because I don’t give social media and that kind of stuff too much attention. I have a really grounded group of people around me that keeps me grounded. So in my head, I’ll always just be kind of ‘Regular Emma’, ‘Under-the-Radar Emma.’ ” — Emma Navarro
"Because it's the US Open, I gave it a shot and I tried my best. I mean, I didn't have any physical issues. I just felt out of gas, you know, and you could see that with the way I played. Just from the very beginning, from the first match, I just didn't find myself at all on this court." — Novak Djokovic
“I love playing in primetime.” — Caroline Wozniacki
“Nobody is going to ask me about my bangs? I just cut them.” — Donna Vekic
“I connect more with the fans and with the crowd. Before maybe I was closing myself in a shell, and now I just try to find help from there. I think we have a nice connection, and it’s cool.” — Paula Badosa
“It’s a long journey. I’m, for sure, in a different position than I was last year. I don’t even want to compare myself to last year honestly, but it was kind of a bumpy road.” — Karolina Muchova, on the recurring injury that led to wrist surgery
“I work a lot on my mental side to keep myself strong, to keep myself hungry to play because I love to play here in New York.” — Zheng Qinwen
“I think this year for me has been a learning year.” — Naomi Osaka
“At the end of the day, I’m so competitive. I just want to win, win, win, win and be in the last round.” — Paula Badosa
“I think that it’s important to show it sometimes that you can be happy for a guy when they beat you. It didn’t feel right to just go up with a negative look on my face, shake his hand and walk off the court, because he played some great ball today.” — Ben Shelton on his matchup with Frances Tiafoe
“I think I’ve had an amazing crossover. A lot of people that follow and want to come watch that would never really watch tennis. Because of the story I have and my interests outside of the game, it’s really helped the sport go forward.” — Frances Tiafoe
“How I feel after this tournament? Really disappointed, but I’m trying to take, I guess, the flowers from everything.” — Naomi Osaka
“I read the Bible every day.” — Coco Gauff
“It was definitely tough. You’ve got an ego that gets hurt and things like that. You don’t want to play, your practices are bad. You just go down a rabbit hole. It’s all part of the process, man. You need those moments because these ones feel really good.” — Frances Tiafoe on his rankings drop after the 2023 US Open
“We shared kind of a dorm-style apartment at the Olympic Village. It was us and a couple of table tennis players and a couple of archers and us girls and the tennis team. We were roommates for a few days. We kind of had a running joke that the people that stayed in the Village as opposed to going to the hotel were digging. They were digging it out, digging really deep. I dug as long as I could, but I eventually had to move to the hotel because I wasn’t really sleeping too much at the Village. Coco dug it out all week.” — Emma Navarro on her fellow Olympian and Round of 16 opponent Coco Gauff
“I think it’s been something I have been doing much better. I just don’t lay down. Having pride in myself, just don't lay down.” — Frances Tiafoe
