HE SAID/SHE SAID: Oz Open Day Two

Q. Nikolay Davydenko said everyone in the draw is scared of him. Are you scared of him?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, respect the way he deserves. Yeah, sure.

Q. Not scared?

ROGER FEDERER: "Scared" is a bad word. I don't like that word. Ask a boxer if he's scared of the other guy. I don't think he's going to say yes.

Q. Do you fear him?

ROGER FEDERER: I respect him like I do over a hundred other players in the draw.

Q. Santoro said today he had the most respect for you out of the whole career. Do you have any words for him?

ROGER FEDERER: Sure, it's nice to hear. We're good friends and we get along well together. He enjoyed playing against me. Same for me. If I could pick a guy to play against, I would like to play against him. Every day I would pick him. He would try something different and I would try something different.

We would almost allow each other to do that; whereas with other players you get tangled up in the same rallies. He's not the power player and he uses a lot touch. So obviously I have a lot of respect for everything he's done in our game.


Q. I think you said on ESPN the other night you felt like the fine [for the U.S. Open outburst] was harsher on you.

SERENA WILLIAMS: I talk about that a lot. I wrote an article about it. $92,000 is a lot of money to fine someone. I always said what I did wasn't right, but I turned that around and I'm actually raising $92,000 to educate ladies, women, also for my school in Africa.

Also I'm giving some money to Haiti, as well, because just the recent things.

So, you know, I don't know whoever got fined like that. People said worse, done worse. I just thought it was a bit ‑‑ I think it was a bit much.

But that was that.

Q. Do you feel like it's a double standard that if some man had had the same reaction, they wouldn't have been fined as much?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, we live in a world that still, you know, men are, you know, just leading a lot of things, as well. In tennis I think we've been able to do really well with having fought so hard to get equal prize money. I think that's really good.

But I think we still sort of, say, live in a man's world. I'm the first to say that I like men to be strong, to be leaders. I think that's absolutely important. But I just think at the same time some incidents can bring you back to life and back into reality.


Q. Yesterday your friend Miss Kirilenko said you had urged her to make a loud noise to enter the year. She said she did that and now it was your turn.

IGOR ANDREEV: She put too much pressure on me. (Laughter.) Like after she win the match she said, Okay, now it's your turn. No, I was happy she won yesterday. She won because ‑‑ not only because she won, but she played very good match. Very good tennis.


Q. Wozniacki is No.4 in the world right now. Are you surprised that she's been able to climb up that high?

JELENA JANKOVIC: You can ask her if she's surprised or not.

Q. She is.

JELENA JANKOVIC: She is? She doesn't think she belongs there or?

Q. No. She thinks that things have been developing very fast for her.

JELENA JANKOVIC: You know, I think last year was really, you know, different year from, you know, maybe the past. Because there was a lot tournaments where a lot of seeds went out, and then some other players who were outside of the top 10, they took advantage of that. They used it.


Q. Has Del Potro taught you to play PlayStation?

NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO: Yes. Like in London, everyone just start to talking about me like I'm like PlayStation player. Like if you play against me in PlayStation, the same level. I'm moving fast, play fast.

That's what is good. Everybody thinking I am very fast on the court. And I want to practicing like this. I want to keep this level, like PlayStation.

Q. Who won at PlayStation?

NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO: No, like say Del Potro play against me in PlayStation. He lost in London. You understand, yeah?

Q. Since you won the Masters, are you more recognized in the street? Do you sign more autographs?

NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO: I hope not. Then is not so many like say celebrity guys. I am not Paris Hilton. I don't want to be like this. I don't want to be like Nadal, Federer. These guys I never see by breakfast. They stay in the room and take room service.

For me better go downstairs, you know, take breakfast, or dinner to go somewhere, not to be so much famous.

[More quotes after the jump - click the headline]

PHOTO OP: US wins record 32nd Davis Cup championship

Congratulations to the US Davis Cup team for their determined three-and-out performance this weekend and a record 32nd Davis Cup title. Andy Roddick bullied Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, James Blake battled for a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-3) defeat of Mikhail Youznhy, and Bob and Mike Bryan clinched the championship defeating Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-2.

We'd also like to give huge kudos to USA Today and Douglas Robson for having the guts to keep consistent coverage of the Davis Cup in the national spotlight.

(images via Getty)

+ WEDNESDAY NETCORDS: Venus, Justine, Igor, Roger vs. Pete...Tommy talks racquets, Davis Cup doodles and more

- Tommy time: When Tommy Haas isn't battling foes on the tennis court or crying "poison!", the German star hangs with girlfriend Sarah Foster and Kate Hudson, plays basketball with Xavier Malisse and Taylor Dent, and stays clear of suicidal tennis racquets. According to a recent Q & A with DEUCE magazine, he rarely breaks tennis strings but "[n]ormally if a string breaks it's at 3 in the morning and it scares the hell out of me. I string my racquets tight so they can break by themselves in my racquet bag. It's loud enough to wake me up, which is annoying, so I usually try to put the bag in a corner of the room."

- Davis Cup doodles: Captain Patrick McEnroe has found his own voice, even in the shadow of his legendary loud-mouth brother, John...the four amigos of the US Davis Cup team genuinely enjoy each other's camaraderie, which they believe should help them bring home the trophy...no Safin surprise for the US. "These guys [on the Russian Davis Cup team] are playing better than Marat, he's not going to be here," says Russian coach Shamil Tarpishchev...Tennis Served Fresh finds the Bryan Brothers Blogging

- Did Roger Federer throw Pete Sampras a bone in the final match in their exhibition tour? Tennis-X thinks so. Is Sampras a current day top-5 player? Federer thinks so.

- The notoriously private Justine Henin has in fact been providing us a version of her own reality TV show, argues Tennis Diary. Nina Rota writes, "Tennis has been the substitute for some of Justine’s life outside of tennis and now that the outside world is creeping back into her life, her tennis is secure enough that it enhances her game. Most people need their personal lives in order to perform well in their career. Some people do it the other way around. Success in their career gives them the confidence to open their hearts to those in their personal lives. Justine doesn’t need a reality TV show, we’ve been watching it all along." Interesting perspective, we think.

- Kamakshi Tandon for TENNIS.com believes players should be given unlimited challenges per match. We don't agree - limited challenges force players to strategize about how and when to use them, which we think adds more excitement and intrigue in a match. Discussss...

- Lacoste and innovators Kidrobot have released their holiday collaboration featuring 3 styles - Missouri 85, and the Revan 2 & 3 - each complete with your own PEECOL toy. But move fast: only 500 pairs total were produced.

- Black Enterprise magazine named Venus Williams one of America's Most Powerful Players Under 40. We're thinking they don't mean tennis when they reference 'players'...

- Getting to know Igor Andreev. Funniest moment: "Well, once when I was 17 I went to practice with Kournikova, me and another guy (Pavel Ivanov), in Miami, tournament before the Orange Bowl. It was Sunshine Cup. We were making sparring to her and when we were at the volley, she hit the ball so hard — and it close to hit my balls so... So that happens, but, it was very close, fun moment. I don't know if it's fun but for me it wasn't fun but for them it was fun [smiles]."

- Tennis Planet holds the blueprint for Novak Djokovic's quest for World No. 1.

FASHION FIX: When in Russia, doo as the Russians doo

We're not feeling this look at all: Igor Andreev, competing at the Kremlin Cup this week, has decided that the Under Armour doo-rag works much better than a baseball cap, a headband, nothing at all? It seems the Russian decided to go back to his roots - it definitely gives him the bubushka look, that's for sure.

At least Igor has his notorious hair situation finally under control. Maybe the doo-rag IS much better than nothing when you have those kinds of issues...

Calling on David Beckham: A hairy situation on the men's tennis tour

The tennis news is few and far between these days. The players, both men and women, are fine tuning their hardcourt games for the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open. A win, or at the very least a good showing, could salvage a player's entire year (are you listening Andy Roddick & James Blake?)

With this free time, I've had a chance to notice a very disturbing, and growing, trend on the men's tour: offensive, unforgiveable hair. And not just bad haircuts but haircuts seemingly grown that way on purpose.

I've pictured a few of the worst offenders here: David Ferrer (Spain - above left), Jose Acasuso (Argentina - above right), Igor Andreev (Russia - below left), Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador - below middle), and Sergio Roitman (Argentina - below right).

When looking for great hair inspiration, these players need not look any further than new Hollywood transplant, and hair-enthusiast, David Beckham. He has worked every hairstyle known to a man - see for yourself:

If there's one thing Becks can teach these men it's this: it's not the hair...it's how you wear it.

(images courtesy of AP Photos)