Paris (AFP) – The best quotes from all 15 days of the 2018 French Open which came to an end on Sunday:
Day 1
“It was a very bad day at the office… I was really pissed off.”
— Jelena Ostapenko after her title defence came to a shock ending in the first round against Ukrainian world number 67 Kateryna Kozlova.
Day 2
“She has no idea what tennis is, really. She has no idea how to count it.
“And actually, she told me that she didn’t know that it was the end of the match until everybody was clapping.”
— Marco Trungelliti’s grandma steals the show at Roland Garros, after the Argentinian’s 1000km family roadtrip to take the record eighth lucky loser’s spot saw him beat Bernard Tomic.
Day 3
“I call it like my Wakanda-inspired cat suit. It’s really fun. Although we designed it way before the (Black Panther) movie, but still, it kind of reminds me of that. It was comfortable. I tried it on a couple of times before. Hadn’t tried it on in a long time, like, over a month. So I was just winging it in the last minute.”
— Serena Williams after her eye-catching black catsuit grabbed the headlines when she played her first Grand Slam match since giving birth to her daughter Olympia.
Day 4
“I think my most favourite would be the one that I win.”
— Japan’s Naomi Osaka on her favourite Grand Slam tournament.
Day 5
“I have one croissant per day, and if I’ve been running a lot, two. I just smell butter, and I feel like having one.”
— Former champion Garbine Muguruza can’t resist the classic French pastries.
Day 6
“Mainly I was thinking what I was going to have for lunch at times.”
— Second seed Alexander Zverev after coming back from two sets to one down and saving a match point to defeat Bosnian Damir Dzumhur in round three.
Day 7
“Yeah, of course, it was a good practice for me. I won the tournament there.”
— Rafael Nadal answers a question about his practice session with Maria Sharapova at the previous event in Rome.
Day 8
“Actually, during treatment yesterday I had Sloane on and was living and dying on every point in the end. I saw her in the locker room, and I was, like, ‘God you made me nervous at the end’. She was, like, ‘you were nervous?’”
— Madison Keys on close friend Sloane Stephens after her third round come-from-behind win against Camila Giorgi. The American maybe regretted that loyalty later as she lost to eventual runner-up Stephens in the semi-finals.
Day 9
“I unfortunately have been having some issues with my pec, my pec muscle, and (it) has unfortunately been getting worse to the point where right now I can’t actually serve.”
— Williams stuns the tournament by withdrawing just minutes before her much-anticipated fourth-round clash with Sharapova.
Day 10
“I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m going to play on grass.”
— A despondent Novak Djokovic wasn’t in the mood for looking ahead after his shock quarter-final loss to Marco Cecchinato.
Day 11
“My head won it.”
— Simona Halep on her three-set win over Angelique Kerber to reach the last four.
Day 12
“I am a human person.”
— Nadal responds to being asked why he still feels pressure on court.
Day 13
“It is almost impossible to beat Rafa. He’s too strong. He’s improving his backhand a lot. That’s why he’s the No. 1 and beating all the guys.”
— Mystic Juan Martin del Potro didn’t give Dominic Thiem much of a chance against Nadal in the final.
Day 14
“I couldn’t breathe in the last game.”
— Halep relieved after a thrilling comeback against Stephens gave her a maiden Grand Slam title in her fourth major final.
Day 15
“I am 32, that’s how I feel. No, no, you can’t fight against age and you can’t fight against the watch. The watch keeps going always.”
— Nadal when asked how long he will continue playing after claiming his 11th French Open title.
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