Pete Sampras sent the message that if a player were talented, self-disciplined and professional, he could exceed the seven or eight majors that seemed to be the best one could hope for in a career.

Safina looked on the verge of tears in the last few minutes on court, smashing her racquet after the loss.

Soderling has a new coach, a new attitude, and a little something called confidence that you get from beating Rafael Nadal in his living room, otherwise known as Roland Garros. Mats Wilander says Soderling’s strength is he “doesn’t give a sh*t,” and that’s the attitude he will need to take into the semis against the free-swinging Gonzalez.

Kuznetsova looked to be on the fast track to challenging for No. 1 after winning the US Open in 2004, but she hasn’t won a Slam since, failing to live up to the challenge of Justine Henin who defeated her in the 2006 Roland Garros final and in the 2007 final at the US Open.

Serena Williams at the French Open: “I’m like one of those girls on a reality show that has all the drama, and everyone in the house hates them because no matter what they do, like, drama follows them. I don’t want to be that girl.”…

“It’s going to be very difficult,” del Potro said of playing Federer. “We all know how he plays, and we all know what he wants to achieve here now that Rafa is no longer here.”

Serena, of course, says she lost the match rather than the Russian winning.

“I always knew that I could play really, really good tennis when I’m on top of my game,” said Soderling.

On tap for Tuesday quarterfinal play are (1) Dinara Safina vs. (9) Victoria Azarenka, and (20) Dominika Cibulkova vs. unseeded former No. 1 Maria Sharapova.

“He didn’t surprise me because I know how he plays and how dangerous he can be,” Nadal told reporters. “I didn’t play my best. I played very short and I couldn’t attack. I made it easy for him to play at his level. But I lost. It’s not a tragedy, I had to lose one day. I must accept my defeats with the same level of calm that I accept my victories.”