Wimbledon's best quotes from Serena, Djokovic and more

Wimbledon 2018 was first a downright inexplicable event and, in the end, entirely commonsensical. Angelique Kerber dashed and darted her way through a strong title showing against Serena Williams, and upstart Kevin Anderson found that the wisecracking Novak Djokovic got the last laugh.

Here, in no order, is a rundown of the remarkable verbal volley from the 2018 Championships at SW19:

1

Johanna Konta, addressing vanquisher Dominika Cibulkova's nothing-new habit to pump herself up between points: "She’s very intense. She was slapping her thigh. ... It was like a clapping."

2

Caroline Wozniackion Ekaterina Makarova: "I think she played above her level and really raised it and got a little lucky and played well when she needed to. I don't know that she would be able to keep up this level for the rest of the tournament."

Fact time: Makarova also upended Wozniacki in the 2017 US Open's second round, and in this major, went on to beat Lucie Safarova before bowing out to Camila Giorgi, who then pushed Serena to three sets. Not a shabby showing.

3

Hsieh Su-Wei, Wimbledon's resident foodie, after her upset of 2018 Roland Garros champ and world No. 1 Simona Halep:

"This year, I was trying to enjoy, not just tennis, but life, the food like the strawberries & cream, the burgers and lobster, all the shops. When you play singles and doubles, I need to find tiny time to run out to get all these foods.

4

Serena Williams on having her greatness chased in so many matches over time:

5

Roger Federer, on how he might recover from losing a five-set quarterfinal to Kevin Anderson in which he held a match point:

"Might take me a while. Might take me half an hour. I have no idea what it’s going to be. Yeah, of course, the goal is to come back here next year. I wouldn’t call it 'unfinished business.' I felt like I did some good business here in the past already."

6

Anderson, on besting Federer after coming back from the brink: "This is one I'll never forget."

7

Serena, who garnered praise from sometimes-spoiler Alize Cornet, on being back in full and with words for all the moms out there:

8

Hall of Fame shoe-in Angelique Kerber, now with three major singles titles at three different events: "To share with [Serena] a court, it's always an honor for me because I know she's pushing me to the limits I have to play my best tennis. To win the final against her, it's always even [more special] for me."

9

Novak Djokovicon beating Rafael Nadal in a five-set semifinal thriller that became with Anderson's 26-24 fifth-set ouster of John Isner on the other side, the de facto final:

10

Jack Sock, winner of the men's doubles trophy with Mike Bryan, who at 40 becomes the ATP's oldest No. 1 doubles player ever: "WE DID IT!" He also said the phrase "I'm just filling in" quite a bit as he had taken an injured Bob Bryan's place.

11

Kerber on her slumpfest of a 2017 season influencing her 2018 resurgence:

12

Djokovic, on what this Wimbledon meant to him, though he didn't speak to it publicly until the deed was Wimble-done:

And that, fellow friends of the game, is all she wrote.

Follow Jon on Twitter @jonscott9.

Strokes of Genius is a world-class documentary capturing the historic 13-year rivalry between tennis icons Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. It is timed for release as the anticipation crests with Roger as returning champion, 10 years after their famed 2008 Wimbledon championship – an epic match so close and so reflective of their competitive balance that, in the end, the true winner was the sport itself.

WATCH: NOW AVAILABLE AT THE ITUNES STORE

Strokes of Genius is a world-class documentary capturing the historic 13-year rivalry between tennis icons Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. It is timed for release as the anticipation crests with Roger as returning champion, 10 years after their famed 2008 Wimbledon championship – an epic match so close and so reflective of their competitive balance that, in the end, the true winner was the sport itself.

WATCH: NOW AVAILABLE AT THE ITUNES STORE