I felt that I had broken my foot, I felt terrible: Nadal

Wimbledon’s week two kicked off after a day of rest. For the men’s top seeds, it was business as usual. For the women, day seven was a catastrophe. Venus Williams was dumped out by Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova for the second year in a row, while her sister Serena was taken out by Marion Bartoli. Bartoli needed five match points to finish off the job, but finally got through in straight sets. Maria Sharapova avoided the embarrassment, but Caroline Wozniacki was not so lucky - she crashed out against Dominika Cibulkova. There was also a momentary scare for the men’s defending champion, top-seeded Rafael Nadal. But Nadal survived Manic Monday as did Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. All of this points to a splendid second week of tennis. We present a collection of the best quotes from day seven at Wimbledon. [caption id=“attachment_32781” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Rafael Nadal picked up a heel injury during the match against Del Potro. AFP”] [/caption] “I thought I’d have to retire. I felt something very strange. I don’t know what the problem is yet, I felt that I had broken my foot, I felt terrible. Some pain stayed with me for the match but the tape changed probably the position of the foot and the distribution of the power so I was able to continue.” - Rafael Nadal said of the problem that he had against Juan Martin Del Potro. “I know where my game is at. I know where Rafa’s game is at. He was going for four Grand Slams in a row in Australia and when he loses suddenly it’s a new era. I just struggle when it goes from one extreme to the next. I don’t need to get into all that fuss. I just need to straighten the record sometimes, otherwise people go in a direction that’s just ridiculous.” - Roger Federer believes it is too soon to talk of the old guard being unseated by Djokovic and Murray. “If I’d known they were coming I would have shaved, I was thinking to myself as I came off. I was sweaty and very hairy. I said to them I’m sorry, I’m a bit sweaty. But yeah, it was really nice.” - Andy Murray talks about meeting William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, after the match. “You know, you can’t go out there thinking you can’t win. But I’ve never been past this spot in a Grand Slam. Past this spot is where I want to be, where you set your goals for.” - Mardy Fish on his next match. “I’m more devastated than ever. I’m just a really good actress. I’m a much better actress now.” - Serena Williams on why she didn’t turn up to the post match press conference as a “devastated loser”. “To be honest, I don’t really care what people think or say or do. I cannot really do anything now. I did my best and it wasn’t good enough.” - Caroline Wozniacki on why she hasn’t won a Grand Slam yet. “Unbelievable achievement. I feel great. It’s a great honour to do it here at Wimbledon.” - Bernard Tomic’s response to the fact that, aged 18, he is the youngest men’s quarter-finalist since 1986. “I think I’m a different person outside the court and on the court. When I’m on the court, I’m a really bad loser. I mean, I hate to lose. This starts when I was maybe five or six years old on everything I was doing. When it was just a matter of winning, it was playing Monopoly or cards with my brother or whatever, I was staying there until I was winning. It’s always been like that.” - Marion Bartoli gives us a glimpse into her personality. “I definitely think I was ready. I think that I would have been sad being at home watching it on TV.” - Serena Williams explains why competing at Wimbledon was the right decision despite all the health problems that plagued her over the past year. “We both want each other to win. But unfortunately since we weren’t able to, we’ll both be able to train together, I suppose.” - Venus Williams looks on the bright side of the losses she and Serena suffered today. “I did hit with him before the tournament. Yeah, we played a set. He destroyed me. Things are not looking good for me, but hopefully he destroyed me then and not on this game on Wednesday.” - Bernard Tomic speaks about his practice sessions with Novak Djokovic who he faces in the quarter-finals.