Selected comments from the players’ post-match press conferences at The Championships, Wimbledon 2008…

Describing the incredible crowd support he felt playing at Wimbledon...
ANDY MURRAY: It's an awesome feeling. Like I said, it's the best support I've ever had in a match, you know, in my life. Yeah, you don't really prepare yourself for it. But I think when it does happen, you know, you have to really enjoy it. And, like, I think it's really important to try and use the crowd to give you extra energy and, you know, kind of get on top of your opponent a bit. You know, it must be intimidating playing against that. You know, I've never been in the situation Gasquet was in, but I'm sure it was tough for him at the end. It's an awesome feeling to have that sort of support.

Replying to a comment about why he won 21 out of 24 points at net in his quarterfinal match...
RAFAEL NADAL: Unbelievable volley (smiling). That's mean I was playing very good from the baseline, because when I arrive to the net, I arrive in always very good position. That's what that mean for me.

Commenting on having her sister, Serena, at Wimbledon...
VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I think the best part is that I love having her here and I'm always sad when she leaves and she's gone. It's not the same. I think that's the bad part of both of us not being here to the end. And the best part is that we're both in the finals. You know, both of us have an opportunity to live our dream, so for us it's a plus.

Talking about the possibility of playing her sister, Serena, at Wimbledon...
VENUS WILLIAMS: I think that we both play really similar games, and I think that we play against each other a lot. So, yeah, it makes it easier for us to know who's going to do what. But at the same time, we both can pull a shot out of our, you know, anywhere. So we're both being on our toes for that. I'm mostly thinking about trying to win.

Comparing her game to Venus'...
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think Venus hits harder serves than I do. You don't have to nod your head that vigorously (laughter). I've tied her record. We have a tied record for the hardest serve, just so you know, which I'm really excited about (smiling). What else? We both run fast. I think the differences, I play more trick shots and drop shots and stuff like that. I don't hit as hard as V. Sometimes I'm watching her practice, I start thinking, Okay, I can play that game. But I feel like my game is really totally different than hers.

Comparing her serve to Serena's...
VENUS WILLIAMS: We're different. I serve big almost every time. She goes for a little more placement. She might mix it up a little more. I mix it up, too. But I serve a little bigger, I think, more consistently.

Commenting on his serve and how much he practices it...
ROGER FEDERER: When I serve, honestly I don't hardly practice it. I find when I hit, let's say, 50 serves in a row, you know, the shoulder starts hurting, the whole thing. You have to also remember what it does to your body, you know, the whole serving, especially only serving, you know, and not playing a rally and maybe taking time. You know, when you hit 50 serves in a row you can do that almost in a few minutes. That's maybe not as good for your shoulder. But at the same time, I think you've got to do it sometimes when you have time. That's usually the off-season. But, honestly, for my serve, it doesn't really matter much to practice on it because it's about being consistent with it and being concentrated on it, because it's really the only shot I can control. That's why the serve is such an important part of my game, or anybody's game.

Explaining how he has learned to control his temper over the years...
ROGER FEDERER: I don't get the anxiety like on a match court any more so much, you know, to throw racquets, to toss balls out of the court, whatever you name it, scream and stuff. I almost laugh about it a little bit more today when an opponent does it, like inside, not obvious. But that's something for me that's not a problem any more. But in practice that comes out much more often, you know, the frustration and just, let's say, disappointment, the anger and stuff. But, I don't know, it's just something that's sort of gone away over time. And I think, as well, especially on the match court, it's just a respect towards, you know, the fans sitting there, not embarrassing myself, you know, in front of millions on the tele, as well. And maybe kids watching, as well. I want them to have a proper example. Even though I enjoyed watching Goran, McEnroe, these guys throwing racquets. I thought it was funny. But at the same time, I don't think a tennis player needs to act this way. I think there are different ways, as well and I hope that kids get inspired by this more than throwing racquets. But then again, I think it's okay, too, to throw a racquet here and there. It's not a problem.

Describing her demeanor during her matches...
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I'm really contained. I mean, I don't fist pump a lot because I expect to win the point. It's not like if I win the point that it's like something that I wasn't expecting, so that's why I don't fist pump a ton. I mean, there's definitely some points where, you know, you need that point, and it's just exhilarating. For me, that's when the pump comes. But if I'm feeling up or down no one can tell. I can hardly tell, so... I just stay even-keeled no matter what.

Describing how Serena has matured and their relationship...
VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I think that we share even more things together off the court. We definitely rely on each other's advice even more. You know, I was a big sister. I was kind of like, you never make mistakes. So then I think sometimes it put pressure on her like to be perfect, too. Not that I'm perfect. But I'm just really like a nerd (laughter). She wasn't exactly that way, so I think we both now know our roles in the relationship and we support each other.

Commenting on his confidence level and grass game coming into Wimbledon...
RAFAEL NADAL: I think doesn't matter win on Queen's or don't win on Queen's for arrive here with good confidence, no? I get a lot of confidence in my clay season, in my hard season in United States, and later for sure winning on Queen's is important. But I was coming here with good confidence because I played two finals the last two years here, no? I think I am better player in general, but not on grass, because on grass I don't practice too much.

Commenting on whether he has any patterns at tournaments...
ROGER FEDERER: I'm not superstitious. I'm no Goran Ivanisevic. No, I'm not like that, you know. Give me a different dish every day, different restaurant, I have no problem. Or even a different bed.

Talking about the possibility of playing doubles with Nadal sometime...
ROGER FEDERER: Well, he asked me a couple years ago in I think Madrid or whatever it was. Well, it's obviously intriguing, the same as I would love to play maybe with Roddick. Because I've played with Hewitt in the past; I've played with Safin in the past. I never played with those two guys. It would be something I would consider doing, you know. But playing so little doubles these days, when I play, I want to play with my friend, Yves or Stan or something like that. That's why it's sort of hard. Maybe it will happen.

Commenting why it is difficult to beat a top player such as Federer...
MARAT SAFIN: Well, just as I said right now, you need to play a little bit more matches, these kind of matches against Djokovic, Nadal, Roddick, to be able to play something, better tennis, to be able to compete at the same level with him. And that's also typical, the three-set match, you know. He’s playing well. He's playing solid. Doesn't do anything fancy. Just plays how he needs to play to be able to win. He has a couple of shots when he's under pressure. He does them all the time. So just nothing fancy. The only thing that was missing a little bit too much in important moments. That's where he takes the advantage from.

Describing his passion for playing tennis...
MARAT SAFIN: I never lost it, otherwise I would have stopped long time ago really, because for sure I'm not doing it for the money. Nobody's doing it for the cash. I think there's plenty of players that they are doing it because they love the game. Like Ivanisevic. He was ranked a hundred something in the world and he asked for the wild card. He was not doing it for the money. He doesn't really need the paycheck by winning Wimbledon. One million more, one million less doesn't really make a whether. But just we love the game. We love to go on the court. We love to play great matches. We love to suffer and we love to win. That make a huge difference, because after tennis you gonna miss that adrenaline. You know, it's just like point by point, and you are playing, you are playing the game. When the it's over, it's over. That's why it's a little bit tough to leave. It's not about the money. It's not about anything. It's just -- to be able to play and perform on the court I think is a very strong feeling.

Describing her first thoughts when she won the Wimbledon title again...
VENUS WILLIAMS: Five titles. Just five titles. It's the first thing that popped into my head.

Talking about her serving style and strategy to serve into her opponent's body...
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, body is my favorite here. You can't defend it, I mean, especially if -- I mean, I'm hitting it with a lot of pace. My second serve, I hit it with a lot of pace, too. So even if my opponent knows where it's going, if it's on the line, close to a hundred miles an hour, it's tough to return. So the serve has been key for me here. I never felt very happy about my groundstrokes here. But my serve, I felt like any time I needed it, it was putting me out of any bind. As long as I could get a return in, then, you know, the win was coming for me.

Commenting on the finals against Nadal and how tough it was to lose the match...
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, look, it's not up to us to judge if it was the best ever. I think it's up to fans and the media to debate. I'm happy we put in a great effort, Rafa and myself. You know, it was a fair battle, which was tough with the rain delays. You know, some great points. Really I just think we both played tough till the very end, you know. In tennis, unfortunately sometimes there has to be winners and losers. You know, there's no draws. But I really had to push hard to come back. And I wasn't able to break him, I guess, in the last three sets, but still I pushed him right to the edge, you know. I guess, you know, with the fading light even the victory became even more special, similar to, you know, when Pete won his, what was it, 14 again Rafter, you know, also in the fading light. That looked incredible. I wish obviously it was me with the trophy, but that's the way it is now...  Probably my hardest loss, by far. I mean, it's not much harder than this right now, so...

Describing his reaction to losing the two match points in the fourth set tie breaker and how he refocused in the fifth set...
RAFAEL NADAL: I didn't miss. He has a very good serve, and another one I have a good serve, good forehand. Because if I hit the forehand to his forehand and he give me a passing shot, impossible to say sorry for myself, no? So I put the ball to the backhand. He had some mistakes during the match in his passing shot with the backhand, but this time he put amazing passing shot. So later when I lost the fourth set I was sitting down, and just say, Well, I am playing well, I am doing well, I am with very good positive attitude, so gonna continue like this and wait, wait what's happening. I feeled (sic) confident with myself, so for that reason I was confident on the match still, no, in the fifth. So just very happy because I played with very positive attitude all the time, fighting a lot. So win here is unbelievable for me...  Well, is the final of Wimbledon, so I have to continuing fighting all the time with positive attitude. I am playing well, so why I have to go down, no? I won two sets 6-4, 6-4. I lost two tiebreaks. A little bit unlucky. I played terrible two points with the 5-2 on serve. I accept that. And just first of all accept I played terrible in the 5-2, and later he did very well. So just tried continuing focusing on myself, playing well. If he has a break and beat me the final, so just congratulate him and go at home, no? That's it.

Describing what went through his head during the tight moments at the end of the finals...
RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. Just focus in every point. Is impossible to think too much, because if you think too much you not gonna play well. I just focus next point, have point by point, no? I don't want to think about the title, nothing, because later is tough.