Certain things Maria and Serena said during the French Open were chosen by BBC as quotes of the day. I find them interesting, so I’ll share them with you.

Maria wasn’t competing for quite some time because of hamstring and shoulder injuries, so she had a chance to discover the joys of ordinary life. Here’s what Maria has learnt during her spare time: "I got to go to the grocery store and I had to cook my own breakfast and my lunch. The first time I went to the store, I was absolutely lost. Now I've got it under control. I know where the vegetables are, where my favorite cheese is, I've got it all going." What an experience she had!

And here’s how the world number 2 and second seed at Roland Garros commented her clay-court form: "I feel terrible. I feel like a cow on ice." Hahaha, illustrative comparison!

As for Serena, she was happy to hear that she was an idol to her next opponent Michaella Krajicek, and said: "That's awesome. That's so sweet. I know the feeling because I loved Monica Seles, so whenever I got a chance to play her, I was just still really excited. It's just kind of strange to be in the opposite position."

After being told the Australian Open plans to put new surface Serena commented: "To be honest with you, I grew up in the hood, and any court is a good court to me." Cool statement.

Serena also explained how she picks her hitting partners: "If you can beat me, you can hit with me." It makes sense, but for sure eliminates a lot of players.

Martina Hingis is missing the ongoing French Open due to injury. However, I found on a website martinaworld.com that she will play the $175,000 Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, Holland. This Tier III event starts June, 18. It's played on grass. The world number 6 won this tournament in 2000, the only time she competed there.

After the event in Holland, we will watch Martina play at Wimbledon, which starts a week later.

The No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova advances to the second round of Roland Garros by beating France’s Emilie Loit 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

The Russian easily took the first set, but struggled in the second, when her opponent even had a 3-2 lead. Sharapova broke back, but in the 11th game she dropped her serve again, so the world No. 41 had an opportunity to serve for the set. Still, Loit was broken and Sharapova took the tie-break 7-4 sealing the victory with her first match point.

This is Maria’s second tournament after a two-month break caused by injuries. Last week, the Russian took part in Istanbul Cup where she lost in the semis to Aravane Rezai.

Maria has still not recovered completely, but she’s willing to fight and give her best. "It will be the toughest thing for me to go out there and win this tournament but I am willing to do it. This is also my preparation for Wimbledon," Sharapova said. (source: BBC Sport)

Half of the women’s first round matches are finished, and players seeded number 31 and 11 are sent home.

On Monday, France’s Severine Bremond, seeded 31, was beaten 6-3 6-3 by Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands (sister of Richard, the 1996 Wimbledon Champion). When her first serve was in, she won 78% of the points, while her seeded opponent won only 48%.

At her home Grand Slam, Bremond has made it past the first round only once, in 2005. This year, the 28-year-old has played six clay tournaments, but reached the second round only twice.

The second seed to fall was Nadia Petrova. Last year, she had a great clay season, but also lost in the first round of the French Open. The Russian, seeded 11, suffered a 5-7 7-5 0-6 lost to Czech qualifier Kveta Peschke.

Petrova, who pulled out of the Italian Open with a back problem, struggled with her movement and had treatment at the start of the second set.

The 24-year-old will have an MRI scan and fears she could miss Wimbledon. Petrova, a two-time semi-finalist at Roland Garros, missed Wimbledon last year because of a hip injury.

"I am trying to stay positive in my head, but I really don't know if I will be okay," she said.

"I just really hope that in the end it's not that serious. I don't want to miss the grasscourt season again." (source: BBC Sport)

Jelena Jankovic has had some amazing results this season – she would be ranked No. 1 as of last week if you went by 2007 rankings points earned only.

Exactly one year ago, before the Italian Open, she was thinking about retiring from tennis since she hadn't reached the second round of nine successive tournaments! A year later, she won the Tier I event and moved up to number four in the world. The event in Rome was her third title this year; she had previously won Auckland and Charleston.

Jelena definitely plays some good tennis, but it seems that she hasn't learnt from the experience in Australia earlier this year. During the Australian circuit, she was playing very well, and reached the final of back-to-back events in Auckland and Sydney. She had played 10 matches in two weeks time, right before the first Grand Slam of the year. Jankovic would have been a real contender, had she been a hundred percent fit during the Australian Open. Since she had played too much, she was an easy prey for Serena Williams in the fourth round.

J.J. is definitely in form lately, but didn't she make the same mistake again?

We had Warsaw, Berlin, Rome, and Strasbourg one after the other. In Warsaw, Jankovic reached the semis, in Berlin the quarter-finals, while in Rome she was the winner. The reasonable thing to do was to pull out of Strasbourg, to rest and prepare for the upcoming Roland Garros. However, Jankovic competed in the Tier III event. She reached the semis, and then withdrew because of illness.

Has this restlessness affected Jelena's physical fitness? Will the fourth seed be able to play her best at Roland Garros? (via: TennisX)

On the rainy first day of the French Open, four players advanced to the second round: the defending champion and three-time Roland Garros winner Justine Henin, the 2002 French Open winner Serena Williams, Dinara Safina of Russia, and Tamira Paszek of Austria.

Serena Williams, who has never lost in the first round of a Grand Slam, struggled through the opening set, but eventually dominated Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 5-7, 6-1, 6-1. Serena was broken four times in the first set, and again in the opening game of the second. But then, she found her rhythm and everything went smoothly towards the end. The eight-time Grand Slam winner could thank the rainy weather which disrupted the match at the moment Pironkova lead 6-5. The break seemed to have helped the eighth seed to collect herself and win the match.

Top-seeded Justine Henin also advanced to the second round by beating Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-4, 6-3. Her opponent in the second round will be Austria's Tamira Paszek who beat Aiko Nakamura of Japan 6-4, 6-0.

Dinara Safina, No. 10 seed, defeated Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine 7-5, 6-4. (source: ESPN)

Saturday was the final day of the Istanbul Cup and the Strasbourg Open. Elena Dementieva (left) won the title in Turkey, while Anabel Medina Garrigues (right) cruised to victory in France.

Elena, the 13th-ranked player in the world, won the event when France's Aravane Rezai withdrew because of the knee injury she sustained in her semifinal match against Maria Sharapova. Dementieva lead 7-6 (7-5) 3-0 when Rezai retired. This is the Russian's first singles title in 2007, and she hopes that she will continue to play well next week at Roland Garros where she's seeded 13th.

At the Strasbourg International, the top seed Amelie Mauresmo was upset by the sixth seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4 4-6 6-4. This is Garrigues' seveth career title, and the first tournament win of the year. World No. 5 Mauresmo had been looking for a confidence boost ahead of Roland Garros, her home Grand Slam at which she has been unsuccessful so far — she has never made it past the last eight.

Porsche, a famous automotive company and supporter of women's professional tennis, donated €50,000 to benefit the partnership between UNESCO and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. This partnership was formed in November 2006, in order to promote gender equality and women's leadership in all spheres of society with the involvement of leading female professional tennis players.

France’s Tatiana Golovin was named a "Promoter of Gender Equality" for the partnership, at the ceremony held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. World No.17 joins Venus Williams who has been the global Promoter of Gender Equality since November 2006.

"I am really excited to play an increased role in advancing women's equality through this partnership. I have had unbelievable opportunities as a professional athlete and feel strongly that girls and women across the world should have similar opportunities to succeed in the goals they set for themselves,” Tatiana said.

UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura stated: "The efforts of Tatiana Golovin and Venus Williams will be key factors in the successful implementation of the partnership as they will provide role models for millions of girls and young women around the world."

Stacey Allaster, President of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, pointed out that "2007 will be remembered as the year of equality in women's tennis, with both Roland Garros and Wimbledon having made historic decisions to move to equal prize money for all women's and men's competitors for the first time in their respective storied histories." (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

World No. 5 has a lot of achievements to be proud of – two Grand Slam titles, 25 WTA Tour events, a Fed Cup, and four years in the top five. Still, at her home Grand Slam, she has reached only two quarter-finals — in 2003 and 2004. For many players, that would be a great success, but Mauresmo can't really be satisfied.

It seems that she has some kind of mental block at her home tournament. Amelie admitted that stress played a role in her pour results, especially when she lost to world No. 54 Jana Kandarr of Germany in the first round of the 2001 French Open. After this defeat, Amelie won as much as four consecutive tournaments!

Last year, after losing to Vaidisova, the French No. 1 said: "I think people should start looking for me at other tournaments."

We should never write Amelie off, but even her biggest fans are not so sure she can win. However, this year she has much less pressure on her shoulders, since the French fans have gradually stopped believing she can win the clay-court Grand Slam. "Maybe she can relax a little bit and play her best tennis," analyst Mary Joe Fernandez said. (via: Roland Garros, ESPN)

Tatiana Golovin, ranked 17th in the world, had to withdraw from her home Grand Slam tournament which starts on Sunday. The French No. 2 hasn't recovered from a right-foot injury she received during Fed Cup played last month. She will be replaced in the main draw by a lucky loser. (via: Tennis Magazine)

World No. 6 Martina Hingis has also withdrawn earlier this month due to back and hip injuries.