Our 10 favorite quotes from Roland Garros Media Day
Friday was Media Day at Roland Garros, which meant an opportunity to hear from some of the top stars on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz ahead of the season's second Grand Slam.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka took the podium, as did defending champion Coco Gauff, four-time champion Iga Swiatek and World No. 5 Jessica Pegula, among others.
Here were our 10 favorite quotes from the wall-to-wall press conferences at Stade Roland Garros.
"Spike Lee was right next to my towel box, so that was pretty cool."
- Coco Gauff reflecting on having the Academy Award-winning filmmaker's support during last year's French Open final. It's commonplace to see Spike courtside at Madison Square Garden, or in Arthur Ashe Stadium, but his presence at Court Philippe Chatrier felt like quite the surprise.
"He's someone that I always looked forward to talking to in press, and sometimes there are few people that I feel like that [about]. I miss seeing Howard here, and just sending my prayers to his family."
- Jessica Pegula, who began her press conference by sending condolences to the family of veteran Associated Press tennis writer Howard Fendrich, who tragically passed away this week.
"When I play doubles, it reminds me of when me and my sister played ping-pong."
- Mirra Andreeva expressing the joy she experiences when she plays doubles, as there's less stress, fewer nerves and shared laughter with her partner, Diana Shnaider.
"As a woman, we really sacrifice a lot and we put a lot to be here. I'm really happy to see that we are moving towards [the] right direction."
- Aryna Sabalenka on the continued pursuit, and progress, towards equal prize money.
"I had the best time ever playing. You can see why she's such an icon. I learned so much from her, just from being around her."
- Katie Boulter on what it was like to play doubles with Venus Williams in Madrid. Boulter added, unsurprisingly, that she'd love the opportunity to do so again, but it won't be at Roland Garros -- Williams is set to play with Hailey Baptiste in Paris.
"He was someone I always enjoyed having conversations with ... one of my favorite faces to see in the room."
- Coco Gauff, like Pegula, kicked off her press conference with a sweet tribute to Fendrich.
"Yeah, the Jannik problem. I don't have an answer for that. I wish."
- Jessica Pegula, one of the resident tennis experts on The Player's Box podcast, is as stumped as the next person on how the ATP field can slow down World No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
"Sport will drive you mad."
- Elsa Jacquemot, in a highly relatable moment, on the challenge of staying grounded and keeping your composure during tense moments on-court.
"I think my emotions were destroying my game."
- Aryna Sabalenka on her struggles to keep her cool during matches earlier in her career. Improving in that area, she said, has improved her game and results significantly.
"Of course it's never tricky to play a French player, especially in Paris."
- Mirra Andreeva, with her signature sarcasm in full effect, on the challenge of playing homegrown opponents at Grand Slams. Andreeva will be faced with that exact scenario in her first-round match, against French wild card Fiona Ferro.