JUICY QUOTESS -- PAUL FEIN

I want my son to grow up in a free country.... Democracy is the way we need to solve our problems.

-- Retired world chess champion Garry Kasparov, explaining why he plans to be a politician in Russia, on the "Charlie Rose Show."

What a day. If you're not nervous on a day like this, you're not alive.

— Tiger Woods, after out-dueling Phil Mickelson in the Ford Championship at Doral with a spectacular final round 6-under 66, in one of the most memorable finishes in PGA history to regain the No. 1 world ranking.

Before, the players were so bad at giving credit where credit is due — like Tracy Austin (who he also taught), like all of them. Now, who in the world has coached five Grand Slam champions? Tracy gives me more credit than I can handle. After all these years I'm getting credit. It's nice.

— California coach Robert Lansdorp, in an Inside Tennis interview.

There better be a Mercedes in my driveway because my neighbour said, `How come your players never give you anything? What do they give you?' And I said, `Nothing.' I've never received anything from one player. Not even a $500 gift. They're all multi-millionaires but I've never received one thing. And I'm telling you, if Maria doesn't put a Mercedes convertible in my driveway, I'm going to shoot myself.

— Robert Lansdorp, saying Maria Sharapova is the most appreciative player he's ever coached, but ... in an Inside Tennis interview.

There's no worse feeling than losing a match in Davis Cup in our sport, especially when your team-mates are counting on you.

— Andy Roddick, after Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic clinched Croatia's 3-2 Davis Cup first-round victory, by beating him 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 6-2, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

I have proved I'm a good player, period. I'm one of the best and that's a great feeling. I've really improved and there aren't many guys out there who can beat me.

— A jubiliant Ivan Ljubicic, after he beat Andy Roddick to clinch Croatia's Davis Cup triumph over the U.S. Ljubicic also beat Andre Agassi and teamed with Mario Ancic to beat Bob and Mike Bryan in the doubles.

Those long pants are nasty, I think. I wouldn't play with them if you paid me.

I just want my teeth to be perfect because that is my goal in life, to be perfect.

-- U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, a 19- year-old Russian who has worn braces for 15 months, talking to The Times (UK).

— Tommy Haas, on Rafael Nadal's clamdigger pants, in Daily Tennis.

We'll just have to change every golf course to about 8,500 yards. Is the game about how far you can hit it? I think the game is about shot making and how you're able to get the ball in the hole.

— Jack Nicklaus, golf's greatest champion and most accomplished long-ball hitter, decrying the trend toward power after many players overpowered Doral Resort's highly challenging Blue Monster course.

Human beings are human beings and will remain human beings. They will always be subject to temptation, and we have to try to reduce that temptation.

— FIFA president Sepp Blatter, advocating that referees be paid more so they would be less susceptible to bribes. Then soccer could avoid the kind of game-fixing scandal-involving referee Robert Hoyzer who admitted fixing or trying to fix games-that has rocked Germany a little more than a year before it hosts the World Cup.

You don't want to restrict a player's income. But you also don't want there to be any appearance of something funny going on to try to get guys to play in tournaments. A guy misses the cut and you say, `All he came for is his appearance money.'

— PGA Tour policy board member Davis Love III, saying players would head off a push by IMG for more corporate outings such as the Ford Motor Co. outing where No. 2 Vijay Singh, No. 5 Retief Goosen, No. 6 Sergio Garcia and No. 8 Padraig Harrington reportedly received $150,000 appearance fees in violation of Tour policies.

It's going to be different than seeing any other player. Then again, we both have big careers to look forward to and have big goals. Just do our normal thing. There's no bad blood at all or bad feelings.

— Lleyton Hewitt, when asked if he were concerned about running into Kim Clijsters, his former fiancï¿½, in the players' lounge or practice courts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

There's no such thing as bad press. It's a press and they write about you, it's already a good thing.

— Marat Safin, during the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells.

Why not? It's the right direction. Because a lot of close calls, they change a lot of matches. One day you are a little unlucky and you lose the match. If you would have won that match you would have won the tournament. It is a matter of centimetres. Two centimetres can change whole life.

— Marat Safin, on using electronic line-calling technology.

He has never played tennis, but he was really good at billiards, and he knows how to help me cope with the big points.

— Patty Schnyder, world-ranked No. 13, telling The Daily Telegraph (UK), about the qualification of her coach and husband, a private eye who served a jail sentence for fraud.

The game of chess teaches kids so many unique qualities like logic, calculation, discipline and confidence.

— Gary Kasparov, the long time world chess champion who, at 41, has left chess for the world of politics, on why he is a huge supporter of chess in the school classroom.

This sport has given me so much that my hope would be to give back as much as I can for as long as I can.

— Andre Agassi the oldest player in the tournament at almost 35, before the start of the Nasdaq-100 Open.

The thing that I am most upset about is that we had arguably the best generation of American players in history, but at the same time, the popularity of the game declined in America.... Part of that has got to be my fault.

— Jim Courier, a four-time Grand Slam winner in the early 1990s, in Tennis Week magazine.

I remember the first time I became No. 1. I was crying. I couldn't believe it. I never even imagined that I could be this successful.

— Lindsay Davenport, in USA Today.