"We all know who the real No 1 is. Quite frankly, I'm the best in the world."
Serena Williams doffs her cap to the new world no 1, Dinara Safina. She backed this up by being bundled out of the Italian Open.

"I had everything under control and all of a sudden she's on top of me."
Snigger. Jelena Jankovic gives us a Beavis and Butthead moment after surviving a scare against Gisela Dulko at the Italian Open.

"About 95 per cent of our revenue stems from the World Cup so it is like having all our eggs in one basket."
Fifa's director of finance and administration, Markus Kattner, on soccer's cash. Isn't it a bit risky relying so heavily on one event? Fear not, Fifa has saved for a rainy day: it's got $1,562,000,000 squirrelled away and made a handy $125,000,000 with a spot of foreign currency hedging last year. Oi, Sepp - loan us a tenner!

"I didn't want to have to start from scratch again - not in a World Cup year. That's why I rejected offers from Bayern Munich and Manchester City."
Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro on the reason he rejected an offer from Manchester City. Er, soccer player turns down big cash to concentrate on national side? We're speechless.

"Certainly, we wouldn't want our players to arrive two days before. We are trying to avoid going too far over that line. That is an important thing. You don't want test cricket to be devalued in any way, shape or form."
England captain Andrew Strauss on the decision of his West Indian opposite Chris Gayle to arrive in England just 48 hours before the first test at Lords. Gayle stayed in South Africa longer to play one more game of IPL Twenty20.

"Ninety runs off 60 balls, that's nearly nine an over."
Good at cricket; lousy at maths - that's Ronnie Irani commentating on the Kolkata Knight Riders' run chase against Mumbai Indians.

"I am a black player, playing for a team in the south of India, getting paid in US dollars for playing in the Indian Premier League in South Africa."
Makhaya Ntini on the state of modern cricket.