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Following on from media day, we serve up the best quotes from the players on the eve of Roland-Garros 2017.

Be it the return of Petra Kvitova, Andre Agassi uniting with Novak Djokovic or Kristina Mladenovic praising another blonde-plaited champion, a string of players had some very interesting things to say in their pre-tournament press conferences.

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“I did miss definitely on the court, I did miss the fight. I mean, now I can just enjoy everything and even – it's beautiful weather outside. Sometimes I just stand outside and see the sun and say, ‘Oh, it's beautiful’. I see different kind of things than before.”
Petra Kvitova puts life in perspective as she announces her return to the tour just five months after surviving a knife attack in her home.

“He's someone that inspires me a lot. That's one of the things I felt like I needed is new inspiration, someone that knows exactly what I'm going through on the court, off the court. He has been through all these transitions, he has been in my shoes before playing Grand Slams, being the best in the world, and facing all the challenges that are present in the tennis.”
Novak Djokovic explains what it’s like taking on-court advice from Andre Agassi for the first time at Roland-Garros.

“I have heard lots of people say that we are more or less the same. We are big hitters. We have the same hair style with the plait. I don't know if it's the same culture that we have, she and I. She too has had two different cultural backgrounds. She was such an example, such a splendid champion, such a nice person.”
Top home hope Kristina Mladenovic praises Mary Pierce, the last French woman to win Roland-Garros.

“I think there is nobody who would do this.”
Women’s No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova cheekily dismisses being on anyone’s list as one of the favourites to win the Roland-Garros title.

“I'm sure everyone in here sometimes haven't enjoyed writing stories for a few weeks. Maybe there is no interesting stories at the time. And it's not as much fun. Everyone goes through it. But I know why I play tennis; because I love it and I enjoy it. You know, I'll keep plugging away until I get back to where I want to get to.”
Andy Murray draws parallels between his current struggles and sports reporters getting writer’s block.

“When I have been here last year, I arrived with very positive feelings. Then what happened with my wrist, I hope that the story doesn't repeat.”
Rafael Nadal tempers expectations after a wrist injury derailed his Roland-Garros campaign last year after he had arrived in Paris healthy and in form.

"I'm really happy for her that she is back. It's I think earlier than everybody was supposing. That's why I'm happy for her. Yeah, we will see. I mean, she's one of my good friends here, so this is good to see her back on tour."
Women's world No.1 Angelique Kerber hails the early return of Petra Kvitova to the tour.

Undiluted fun occupied the entire agenda at Roland-Garros on Saturday, at the traditional pre-tournament Kids’ Day charity event. Even the weather gods got the feelgood memo, as the walkways thronged with children of all ages, relishing the chance to see the finer points of tennis showcased in one big party of entertainment.

Above all things, this is always a day not only for a good time but for good causes. All proceeds raised are donated to such charities as Fête Le Mur and Tennis En Liberté, FFT clubs which run educational, social and community initiatives, and boosting access to tennis among underprivileged groups.

Every inch of the grounds was designed to entertain. Just south of Philippe-Chatrier Court, gaggles swarmed towards Zoe, Henry, Arthur and Lou, the four superheroes of Galaxie Tennis, to have their photographs taken. Galaxie Tennis is the animated program run by the French Tennis Federation for under-12s, to encourage their interest in the game with the emphasis on playing simply for the joy of it.

Further towards Suzanne-Lenglen Court ambled two jugglers in retro tennis kit, one juggling three vintage racquets and another working his juggling magic with so many tennis balls in each hand that it was difficult to keep track. Close behind came the stiltwalkers – two strolling at a headheight of three metres, and one bouncing past on spring pogo stilts. Nearby on Allée Marcel Bernard, photographs at the two giant #RG17 and #Paris2024 selfie walls proved hugely popular.

Meanwhile, just to the east of Philippe-Chatrier Court, La Terrasse Mousquetaires was converted into three micro-courts set up for tinies’ tennis. Visitors paused to applaud their efforts, on a day when barbe à papa - that’s candyfloss or cotton candy, depending whereabouts on the globe you call home - was much in demand, along with ice cream.

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Practice: Rafael Nadal and Lucas Pouille
Inside the courts there was also plenty to see. Crowds swarmed to No.1 Court - known as the Bullring - to see Rafael Nadal and Lucas Pouille practise together, with both players signing scores of autographs afterwards. Over on Court No.8, as part of the “Play on the Roland-Garros Clay” campaign (in association with ENGIE and Babolat), there was a chance to set foot on the hallowed Parisian red dust to find out how it feels.

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Next door on Court No.6 was an umpiring event, where several spectators were selected to officiate on Court Philippe-Chatrier later in the day (of which more in a moment). Then came the finals of "Rendez-vous à Roland-Garros” (in partnership with Longines), where the winners earn themselves a wildcard for the juniors' singles main draws.

Best of all, maybe, was the headline event on Court Philippe-Chatrier – the Battle of the Champions, where teams of tennis stars faced off in a range of lively challenges, only some of which were strictly sporting. As music boomed from the stadium speakers, among those joining in the fun were Viktoria Azarenka, Kristina Mladenovic, Alexander Zverev, Garbine Muguruza, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Dominic Thiem, Karolina Pliskova, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Elina Svitolina and Marin Cilic – not to mention a series of children occupying the umpire’s chair, as selected earlier on Court No.6. The starriest turn of all was reigning Roland-Garros men’s champion Novak Djokovic, who never fails to give his support to Kids’ Day.

Outside, hordes thronged around the entrance to the players’ facilities below Tribune Jacques Brugnon for an even closer glimpse of the big names. For others, the excitement proved a little too much, as could be seen in the late afternoon on a shady bench nearby, where a mother sat with her two small children on either side of her, each with their head upon her shoulder, dozing sweetly as evening approached.

Time for bed for them soon. And tomorrow at Roland-Garros, time for competition.

As Dominic Thiem begins his French Open bid against Bernard Tomic, Angelique Kerber faces a tough opening-round battle against former top-10 player Ekaterina Makarova.

World No.1 Angelique Kerber must have been cursing her draw in Paris. The German’s first hurdle is an intriguing contest with former top 10 player Ekaterina Makarova.

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It’s been a troubled on-court 2017 for Kerber; the No.1 crown hasn’t rested well on her head.

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READ MORE: Day 1: get a seat for ...
The 29-year-old enters Roland-Garros without winning a title this season following a tough clay-court campaign. Early exits in Stuttgart and Madrid preceded an alarming 6-4, 6-0 defeat by qualifier Anett Kontaveit in Rome.

Kerber and Makarova, who made the fourth round in 2015, have become embroiled in a host of battles in the past. The top seed leads the head-to-head by 7-4, but that suggests there is plenty of potential for an immediate upset.

Get set for a cracker.

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READ MORE: Kerber hopes to fall in love with clay
Meanwhile, away from Rafael Nadal’s pursuit of ‘La Decima’, Dominic Thiem is being touted as a potential dark horse for the trophy in Paris.

The 23-year-old reached the semi-finals last year and subsequently broke into the Top 10, and has since flourished into a sublime all-court, all-surface player.

Final showings in Barcelona and Madrid - where he fell to Nadal - led to revenge over the ‘King of Clay’ in Rome, before he was ousted by Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. The past three tournaments have certainly catapulted Thiem into the contender bracket.

The sixth seed’s opening opponent in Paris is Australian Bernard Tomic. The world No.39 is a mercurial talent who has an unorthodox game for opponents to contend with.

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READ MORE: Idols become rivals for Thiem
On paper, Thiem should storm into the second round, but Tomic can chop and slice all day, which could build up some frustration for the Austrian. Their only previous meeting saw Thiem edge to a 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3 triumph in Acapulco last year.

It will be fascinating to witness Thiem’s approach for this clash – can he power through the craft of Tomic? Saying that, Tomic has never been beyond the second round at Roland-Garros and has suffered eight first-round defeats so far this season.

Hopefully Tomic can bring his best canny tennis to force Thiem to utilise the full armoury of his game. Otherwise it is still well worth the watch to catch a glimpse of Thiem’s majestic single-handed backhand and cannonball winners.

An executive summary of what every fan should know about the coming fortnight on the ATP World Tour
1. 2017 Roland Garros: This is the 50th tournament in the Open Era (since 1968) and 87th at Roland Garros since 1925 (tournament was not held from 1940-45 during World War II).
In 1925, the draw was opened to players outside of France. The French Championships started in 1891 and this is the 116th overall staging of the tournament. There are three former champions in the field – reigning champ Novak Djokovic, 2015 titleholder Stan Wawrinka and nine-time winner Rafael Nadal (2005-08, 2010-14).
2. Big Four Dominate: Since Roland Garros in 2005, when Nadal won his first Grand Slam title, the Big Four have accounted for 43 of the past 48 Grand Slam titles. During the current stretch, Nadal has won 14 titles, Federer 14, Djokovic 12 and Murray 3.
The three other players to win a Grand Slam title during the span are: Wawrinka, a three-time champion (2014 Australian Open, 2015 Roland Garros, 2016 US Open), Marin Cilic (2014 US Open) and Juan Martin del Potro (2009 US Open). In addition, the Big Four have won 59 of the past 65 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, dating back to 2010 Monte-Carlo, where Nadal won.
Since 2015, Cilic (2016 Cincinnati) and Alexander Zverev (2017 Rome) are the only non-Big Four champs. Zverev is the first player born in the 1990s to win a Masters 1000 title. The only player born in the 1990s to reach a Grand Slam final is Milos Raonic, who was runner-up at Wimbledon last year.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Thiem Feeling Comfortable Among Game's Elite
3. Rafa Seeks 10th Title: Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal eyes a historic 10th title at Roland Garros. The Spaniard is already owner of the most titles at a single Grand Slam event.
Nadal is 72-2 lifetime at Roland Garros and has only been pushed to five sets twice at the tournament, beating John Isner and Novak Djokovic in five-setters en route to titles in 2011 and 2013, respectively.
4. Nadal on Fire: Nadal, who turns 31 on 3 June, is 17-1 on clay this season after winning his 10th Monte-Carlo, 10th Barcelona and fifth Madrid title. He owns an 870-point lead over Federer in the Emirates ATP Race To London and is on pace to end a year as World No. 1 for the fourth time.
See Who's Pushing Nadal and Federer In The Race
5. Djokovic and Agassi Debut: Djokovic, reigning champion, will be coached by another man who completed the career Grand Slam in Paris, Andre Agassi, who accomplished the feat in 1999 on his 11th attempt.
Last year in his 12th attempt in Paris, Djokovic lifted his first champion’s trophy. Both won the title at age 29. The World No. 2 is one of two players to beat Nadal at Roland Garros (2015 quarter-finals) along with Robin Soderling (2009 4R).
6. No. 1 Seed Murray: World No. 1 Andy Murray is the first British man as top seed at Roland Garros since Bunny Austin in 1937. Last year Murray reached his first Roland Garros final. This is his 10th appearance (34-9 record).
Murray is 4-4 on clay this season and last year he was a career-best 18-3. As was the case in 2016, he enters Paris with one title on the year. Murray ended 2016 with an ATP-best nine titles. On 29 May, it will be the 30th consecutive week Murray is No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings (since 7 November 2016).
7. A Look at No. 1 & 2: Murray and Djokovic have occupied the Top 2 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings every week since 16 May 2016. Djokovic has been ranked in the Top 2 every week since 21 March 2011.
Last year Murray came into Roland Garros with a 22-5 record (1-2 in finals). This year he is 16-7 overall (1-1 in finals). Last year Djokovic entered Paris with a 37-3 record (5-1 in finals). This season he is 20-6 (1-1 in finals). This is the first time since 2010 he comes into Paris with one ATP World Tour title.
8. Winning Wawrinka: Former champion Wawrinka comes into Paris after defending his Geneva crown (d. M. Zverev), his first title since last year’s US Open. Prior to Geneva he was 2-3 on clay during the season.
He enters with a 20-8 record overall. Wawrinka defeated the World No. 1 in all three of his Grand Slam finals (2014 Australian Open, 2015 Roland Garros, 2016 US Open). He is 0-20 against the World No. 1 in all other rounds/events.
9. Thiem Dominating: World No. 7 Dominic Thiem is the only player to beat Nadal on clay this year, avenging losses in the Barcelona and Madrid finals by defeating the Spaniard in the Rome quarter-finals. He is 17-4 on clay this season.
Thiem and David Goffin are tied for the second-most wins in 2017 with 29 (Nadal: 36). Last year Thiem advanced to his first Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros (l. to Djokovic).
10. Sascha Breaks Through: #NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev, who was born in 1997, defeated Djokovic at Rome on 21 May to become the first Masters 1000, Nitto ATP Finals or Grand Slam champion born in the 1990s.
The 20-year-old German broke into the Top 10 after Rome from No. 17 to No. 10, and he’s the youngest player in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings since Juan Martin del Potro (20) on 20 October 2008.
11. Seeded Brothers: No. 9 Alexander and No. 32 Mischa Zverev are the first brothers to be seeded in a Grand Slam tournament since 1982 Wimbledon with No. 4 Sandy and No. 6 Gene Mayer. Mischa comes in after reaching the final in Geneva as a qualifier.
12. #NextGenATP Watch: The Top 7 players in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan will be in action, including Borna Coric of Croatia. Coric is No. 2 in the #NextGenATP race after saving five championship points for his first title at Marrakech in April and beating Murray at Madrid on 11 May.
See Who's Pushing Coric In The Emirates ATP Race To Milan
13. delPo Returns: No. 29 seed Juan Martin del Potro returns to Roland Garros for the first time since 2012 when he reached the quarter-finals (l. to Federer). His best clay result this season is the QFs in Rome (l. to Djokovic).
14. Flying the French Flag: A tournament-high 19 French players are in the main draw. Leading the way are former semi-finalists Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils.
Tsonga won his first clay title in Lyon and has won three titles this season, the most since 2009. A Frenchman has not captured a Grand Slam singles title since Yannick Noah at Roland Garros in 1983.
15. Lopez Grand Slam Streak: Feliciano Lopez is playing in his 61st consecutive Grand Slam tournament, which is the longest active streak in men’s tennis. The 35-year-old Spaniard is closing in on Federer’s all-time record of 65 Grand Slam tournaments played in a row.
16. Doubles Field: Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut hope to become the second French doubles team since 1984 to win Roland Garros. Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin captured the title in 2014.
Also in the field are 2016 champions Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez and 2016 finalists Bob Bryanand Mike Bryan. The Bryans, who won Roland Garros in 2003 and 2013 and are 2-5 in finals, have not won a title since Rome in 2016 (19 events).
* KING OF ROLAND GARROS: In 2012, Nadal passed six-time winner Bjorn Borg with the most titles in Roland Garros history (since 1925). Three years ago he won for the ninth time. Here are the players with three or more titles:
Player
No. (Years)
Rafael Nadal
9 (2005-08, ’10-14)
Bjorn Borg
6 (1974-75, ’78-81)
Henri Cochet
4 (1926, ’28, ’30, ’32)
Gustavo Kuerten
3 (1997, 2000-01)
Mats Wilander
3 (1982, ’85, ’88)
Ivan Lendl
3 (1984, ’86-87)
Rene Lacoste
3 (1925, ’27, ’29)
* SIX MORE TITLES: Here are the players with six or more titles at the same Grand Slam event (post Challenge Round):
Player
Grand Slam
Titles
Years
Rafael Nadal
Roland Garros
9
2005-08, 2010-14
Bill Tilden
US Championships
7
1920-25, 1929
Pete Sampras
Wimbledon
7
1993-95, 1997-2000
Roger Federer
Wimbledon
7
2003-07, 2009, 2012
Novak Djokovic
Australian Open
6
2008, 2011-13,2015-16
Roy Emerson
Australian Championships
6
1961, 1963-67
Bjorn Borg
Roland Garros
6
1974-75, 1978-81
* CLAY-COURT DOMINATOR – Nadal has the best career match record on clay in the Open Era with a 382-35 mark (.916), and he’s 52-9 in clay finals. In 11 of the past 13 years he's won at least two European clay court titles coming into Roland Garros. Here's a year-by-year look at Nadal's clay court supremacy since 2005 (year of first Roland Garros crown):
Overall European Clay
Year
Clay W-L
Clay Finals W-L
Going into RG (April-May Tourn.)

2017
17-1
3-1
17-1
3 Titles
2016
21-4
2-1
15-2
2 Titles
2015
26-6
2-1
10-4
0 Titles
2014
25-3
3-1
13-3
1 Title
2013
39-2
6-2
19-1
3 Titles
2012
23-1
4-1
16-1
3 Titles
2011
28-2
3-2
17-2
2 Titles
2010
22-0
4-1
15-0
3 Titles
2009
23-2
3-1
17-1
3 Titles
2008
24-1
4-1
15-1
3 Titles
2007
31-1
5-1
19-1
3 Titles
2006
26-0
4-1
17-0
3 Titles
2005
50-2
8-1
19-1
3 Titles
* ROLAND GARROS WINS LEADERS: Nadal, Federer and Djokovic are among the all-time Roland Garros match wins leaders:
W-L Titles
1) Rafael Nadal 72-2 9
2) Roger Federer 65-16 1
3) Guillermo Vilas 58-17 1
4) Novak Djokovic 55-11 1
5) Ivan Lendl 53-12 3
Jaroslav Drobny 53-14 2
7) Andre Agassi 51-16 1
Nicola Pietrangeli 50-17 2
9) Bjorn Borg 49-2 6
10) Mats Wilander 47-9 3
* CAREER GRAND SLAM CLUB: Last year Djokovic became the eighth player in men’s tennis history to complete a career Grand Slam and he became the first man to hold all four Grand Slam titles since Rod Laver in 1969. Djokovic, Nadal and Federer are the three active players in the Career Grand Slam Club. Other players to accomplish the feat: Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, and Andre Agassi.
* MOST ATTEMPTS TO TITLE: Murray is making his 10th appearance at Roland Garros. The most attempts to win the Roland Garros title in the Open Era is 12 by Djokovic last year. The most attempts to win any Grand Slam title in the Open Era is 14 by Goran Ivanisevic, who won Wimbledon in 2001. Here are the players with the most attempts (10 or more) to win the Roland Garros title:
Year
Champion
Appearance
Age
2016
Novak Djokovic
12th
29
1999
Andre Agassi
11th
29
2015
Stan Wawrinka
11th
30
1990
Andres Gomez
11th
30
2009
Roger Federer
11th
27
1995
Thomas Muster
10th
27
* ALL-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPIONS: Here is a look at the all-time Grand Slam titles leaders with 10-more:
Champion
W-L
1) Roger Federer
18-10
2) Pete Sampras
14-4
Rafael Nadal
14-7
4) Novak Djokovic
12-9
Roy Emerson
12-3
6) Rod Laver
11-6
Bjorn Borg
11-5
Bill Tilden
10-5