Key quotes from the 10th day of the French Open at Roland Garros on Tuesday:
"No chance. The gold medal for me is the most difficult thing to win, because you get a chance once every four years. It's special in a way that there is so little people that have done it. I think you do it for your country. You do it for the people back home. I will never trade my gold medal for anything, but I wouldn't mind to add a few things to my list as well."
-- Alexander Zverev on whether he would trade his 2020 Olympic gold medal for a Grand Slam title.
"As I said before, I don't particularly care. I focus on next match, and I focus on the opponent as they cross the net, and that's the only thing that I can control. If I win those matches, then that's great."
-- Semi-finalist Zverev on being considered the favourite to win the tournament.
"I feel like this year here in Paris the crowd was not, you know, really against me like that, so I feel like it was still easier. But I would say that if that would happen again, I feel like it would be a little bit easier for me to handle... I know how I was feeling and what was pressuring me. I feel like if it would happen this year, I would know how to fix the things."
-- Mirra Andreeva on getting into the last four a year on from her bad-tempered defeat to hometown sensation Lois Boisson at the quarter-final stage.
"That's what my parents always say. I feel like that's true, because for some reason, I feel like we kind of have faith that, I don't know, was already made before we started living this life. So that's kind of the belief that I have, and I think that that's why I believe that. It's just sometimes kind of easier to think this way when, you know, something doesn't go your way."
-- Andreeva on believing that "everything happens for a reason".
"For me it's not frustrating anymore. They are all grown-ups. They know what they're talking about. They know what's going on. They have phones. They have Instagram. They have news. They are clearly aware of what's going on. If this is something that they want to avoid talking about, they have to live with this, not me."
-- Marta Kostyuk on Russian players not speaking out against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"I haven't had time yet to watch the documentary. In the next few days I'll maybe have some more free time. I'll try to watch it."
-- Defeated debutant quarter-finalist Rafael Jodar on the new documentary about his famous namesake and 14-time Roland Garros champion, Rafael Nadal.
"I'm really excited, actually, for her to come back. I think it's a great story and very inspiring for all the moms around the world as well."
-- Elina Svitolina on the upcoming return of tennis legend Serena Williams.
afp
