Trivia and tennis served up at US Open question time

In a sport where all top stars are required to carry out press conferences following virtually every match -- world number one Novak Djokovic played 87 singles matches in 2012 -- talking tennis can become rather tedious.

And when those wins are routine and incident-free, questioning veers off the beaten path.

The result? Occasional insights and the downright bizarre battling for column inches, web views and retweets.

Top seed Djokovic, the 2011 US Open champion, made the third round on Friday and reeled off a well-rehearsed explanation of how he fought off two set points in the first set against Benjamin Becker.

After that, it was open house.

"Thank God. This is first time I'm going to talk about him," said Djokovic.

Him? Becker? No, he was talking of Neven Markovic, a childhood pal from Belgrade who is carving out a football career with Swiss second division side Servette.

Next up for Djokovic -- the appetizing taste or otherwise of the famed gluten-free diet, which the Serb has long credited for the fire fueling his rise to the top.

The 26-year-old is a strict adherent, although he misses pizza and chocolate and sweets.

"You can have gluten-free pizza, but the regular one is better. Toughest for me was definitely chocolate... we used to have at home a lot of sweets, as I think everyone on this planet loves sweets."

What about the makers of a particular brand of honey who are being investigated for alleged fraud?

"Fraud?" asked Djokovic. "I don't know anything about it. I just like their product. It's great."

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal, the 2010 champion, dissed fad diets, preferring his trusty Spanish seafood as well as hours in the gym and practice courts.

"If have the gluten-free diet or have the perfect diet or these kind of things that are supposed to change you or a big sacrifice, that means your are not being happy the rest of the day, not fresh mentally," said Nadal.

Nadal, also comfortably into the third round for the loss of just 11 games, then went into raised left eyebrow overdrive, stumped by a question over whether or not he had Jewish blood in his family.

"That's not true," he said. "Really doesn't matter for me. Doesn't matter if I am or am not."

Last year's beaten finalist Victoria Azarenka was also dragged into the food debate after dropping just four games in her first two matches.

"Whole Foods is like Disneyland for me," said the Belarusian in praise of a nationwide US chain.

Roger Federer, meanwhile, also seized an opportunity to discuss his line of baseball caps which bear the distinctive RF logo.

"It's been really nice that Nike has sort of a personal line and I feel very fortunate," said the 17-time major winner.

Former world women's number one Caroline Wozniacki was fielding questions concerning boyfriend, golf star Rory McIlroy, and her Pomeranian dog.

He's called Bruno and weighs two kilos and has been lined-up for a play date with Pierre.

Pierre? That's Djokovic's dog.

"He's a little fluff ball and I love him," said Wozniacki of Bruno, not Djokovic.

"No matter if you've had a bad day or great day, he doesn't care. He runs up to you and wants to lick your face."

But it hasn't all been light-hearted banter in the US Open press conference room in the first week.

American player James Blake, who retired from the sport, weighed in on Russia's controversial anti-gay laws which have clouded the build-up to the 2014 Winter Olympics, which will take place in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.