Li Na fesses up, Wozniacki's love life affects her game, Murray would bet on Nadal, Monfils is magic

On day three of Roland Garros we learned that Li Na can have a bad day, Wozniacki's broken engagement was not good for her game, Andy Murray's a bit of a joker and Monfils is mercurial and magical.

French player Kristina Mladenovic RFI/Pierre René-Worms

• When you have a bad day at the office it's best to admit it. Full marks then to the Chinese second seed Li Na for fessing up big time. She lost her first round match to Kristina Mladenovic, a player ranked 101 places below her. "No-one says just because you're number two in the world that you have to win all of the matches," said Li. "This is tennis. Everyone who comes to the court has a chance to win the match. It didn't matter who I was playing I still would have lost. The problem was myself. I threw myself away." Naturally the 21-year-old Frenchwoman was delighted. "It's just incredible," she gushed. "I don't have the words to describe what just happened. To beat the world number two in the first round at Roland Garros, it's incredible."

• A reality check is needed. Actually it's not incredible to beat the world number two when said world number two has admitted to an off day. Incredible would be going on to carve up the rest of the field and landing the women's singles trophy on 7 June.

• Ghouls and hounds of the press circle with predatory intent. The Danish player Caroline Wozniacki and golfer Rory McIlroy announced their engagement on New Year's Eve. Last Wednesday it was all off. McIlroy did the jilting, saying he wasn't yet ready for marriage. Come on Rory look what wedlock did for Tiger Woods's game! McIlroy went off with his clubs to nurse his heartache and won the PGA tournament at Wentworth in southern England last weekend. Wozniacki, the 13th seed, lost on day three to Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer. "I was not prepared for this," Wozniacki admitted. "It all came as a bit of a shock. I want to thank everyone for their support and sweet messages. I have to move on from this."

• Andy Murray could do a good comedy turn. After advancing to the second round at the expense of Andrey Golubev, Murray was asked about the day four match between top seed Rafael Nadal and the unseeded Austrian Dominic Thiem. "I played Thiem earlier in the year and he's a very good player," said the 27-year-old. "He's very strong, hits the ball big from the back of the court. He's an aggressive player. Against Rafa it's a tough match. I don't know what Thiem's chances are ... I would probably bet on Rafa ..." Murray delivered the last phrase after a pause and deadpan.
• The centre court loves a showman. And there are few bigger and better than Gael Monfils. The French 23rd seed has been plagued by injuries of late but he clearly hasn't lost any of his sprightliness. The clean cut Romanian Victor Hanescu was the foil for Monfils and for a brief moment in the third set it looked as if Hanescu was going to come over all Rory McIlroy and ruin the love-in as Monfils heaped mistakes upon errors. But no, it was all part of the extravaganza. Injecting the prospect of defeat as victory beckons and then plucking triumph from the precipice of failure is part of the Monfils package. Mercurial and magical.