Day 2 diary: Stan reminisces

Four years ago, Stan Wawrinka entered the press conference room after winning Roland-Garros and silently draped his famous plaid shorts on the podium with a grin on his face, taunting the media who had mocked his outfit throughout the tournament in Paris.

He was asked about those shorts on Monday, after his four-set win over Jozef Kovalik, and whether he saved a pair as a souvenir from his Grand Slam title run.

“Of course,” said the Swiss.

Is it hung up in a frame in his living room? “No, no, not yet. Probably the day I stop playing maybe I will put them nicely. Yeah, for sure, I kept them,” he said.

“You guys didn't like them until I won Roland-Garros. That's why they are famous now,” he added with a smile.

Fair enough, Stan. Can’t argue with that!

Most clued-in player

Rafael Nadal defeated a player he had never faced before in the form of German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann in round one on Monday.

On Wednesday in the second round, Nadal has another first-time meeting, against a different German qualifier named Yannick; this time it’s Yannick Maden. It may be tricky for some when it comes to preparing to play opponents they don’t know, but not for Nadal, who seems to keep tabs on everyone, and also happens to have a really good memory.

“Being honest, I saw play Yannick last year in Munich against Zverev. So I remember a little bit that. And then today with YouTube you can find things. I saw some highlights of his matches, and you have an idea. Of course is different when you never played before. You can create an idea about what he does, no?” said Nadal.

“And that's what I did. Just research a little bit on YouTube and with some videos and for after tomorrow gonna be the same for me personally.”

Fashion statement of the day

Serena Williams is one of the most daring athletes when it comes to fashion and, naturally, everyone always eagerly waits to see what her outfit will look like at the start of each Grand Slam.

Monday was no different as the American 23-time major winner debuted her Roland-Garros kit, which was designed by Virgil Abloh, the fashion designer and founder of the brand ‘Off-white’. The 37-year-old revealed some cool facts about her outfit after her opening-round win over Vitalia Diatchenko.

“Well, we have, on the outfit it has words that has -- it's in French, and it says ‘Queen’, it says ‘Champion’, and it says ‘Mom’. And those are things that mean a lot to me and are reminders for me and for everyone that wants to wear it. Just remind everyone that they can be champions and are queens. So I love that about it,” said Williams.

Laugh of the day

Novak Djokovic had posted a video of a broken wooden floor that he smashed while training at the gym with a medicine ball at Roland-Garros and he joked on Monday that he will probably have to pay for the resulting damage.

"I probably will [receive a bill from Roland-Garros]. I have not received it yet, at least it hasn't come to my attention, but I'm expecting a bill. The damage was pretty big, I must say (smiling). You know, huge muscles that I possess, it's kind of expected I make the big hole like that."

Upset of the day

French wildcard, the 16-year-old Diane Parry, who is ranked No.457 and is playing her first tour-level main draw, beat Belarusian Vera Lapko to make the second round at Roland-Garros.

Parry grew up in Boulogne and practices at the national tennis centre here in Paris. “So I'm here all year long. It's just as if I were at home basically,” she said after her win.

Parry’s forehand has a lot of spin, and she has a single-handed backhand.

“It’s Amélie Mauresmo that taught me,” she revealed to French media. “I love it. I'm very happy to have a one-handed backhand. I'm one of the very few players to have one, so I stand out thanks to this.”

Quotes of the Day

“About the psychology thing, I'm doing it because last year I thought that I was losing my mind with tennis. It's not easy to be here so many years and you start to feel that you're really crazy, you know? Not just with yourself, but with your family, your friends. I was having a very hard time with them every time that I went back to my city, so I started for that also. And, yeah, that improved my game.”

-- Guido Pella explains how working with a sports psychologist has improved his game

“I have enough tennis in me. I have 30-something years' worth of tennis, so I'll be fine.”

-- Serena Williams when asked if she feels she has enough tennis in her to hit her top form in Paris, despite her lack of match-play in the build-up due to injury.

“No, I'm just crazy, to be honest. I think everyone knows that now. I just needed to change. I was, like, ‘I've got to try something different. It's not my forehand, it's my clothes; right (smiling)?’ So really, that's it. I'm just mentally a little off.”

-- Williams reveals that she put on her long-sleeved black top mid-match not because she was cold, but because she wanted to turn the scoreline around after trailing Vitalia Diatchenko by a set in their opener on Monday.

Comeback of the day

A day after his former doubles partner Nicolas Mahut came back from two sets down to defeat Marco Cecchinato in five, Pierre-Hugues Herbert rallied from a two-sets-to-love deficit to upset in-form No.12 seed Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.

They're not teaming up at this year's Roland-Garros, yet the French duo are still somehow synchronised!

Stats of the day

1 – Johanna Konta claimed her first-ever Roland-Garros main draw win in five attempts with success over Antonia Lottner on Monday.

13 – Kiki Bertens claimed a tour-leading 13th clay-court victory this season with her triumph over Pauline Parmentier on Monday.

13 – Alex de Minaur clinched his first Tour-level clay-court victory since Estoril 13 months ago, snapping a five-match losing streak in the process by defeating Bradley Klahn - who's now on a six-match losing streak - on Monday.

17 – Lauren Davis won a Grand Slam match for the first time in 17 months, defeating Kristyna Pliskova on Monday. Davis hadn’t claimed a major win since her three-set epic against Simona Halep in the 2018 Australian Open third round that ended 15-13 in the third. Her win over Pliskova was her first Roland-Garros main-draw victory in seven years.