PARIS -- A perfect way to begin the final day of the French Open is a morning visit to the Musee Marmottan, the museum dedicated to Claude Monet that is about a half-hour walk from Roland Garros. The museum is filled with works by Monet, including his landmark "Impression, Sunrise'' for which the Impressionist movement is named after.
Like so many of Monet's paintings, "Impression, Sunrise'' is best appreciated from a distance rather than up close. The same might be said of sporting events. While we get caught up in the thrill and joy of the movement, the events are best reflected upon afterward. After important wins, athletes repeatedly say they haven't had time to soak it in.
Or as Serena Williams said about winning her 20th Grand Slam a couple hours later, "I'm still kind of celebrating my 19th.''
Thus, before leaving Paris and focusing on Wimbledon, here are Impressions at Sunset of the 2015 French Open.
The fighter
This might not have been Serena's best Grand Slam, but it certainly was one of the most amazing and dramatic. She lost five sets (a career first when winning a Slam) and also lost the first set four times (another first). She battled a flu bug that left her feeling so bad that she says she told the WTA that she might not be able to play the final.
She did play, of course. And she won, giving her three straight Slam titles and moving her one away from her second career Serena Slam.
"This is up there. Because I was not at my best,'' Serena said when asked where this ranked among her 20 Grand Slam titles. "I would still have to say Wimbledon 2012 is higher because then I didn't really think I could win another Grand Slam. But this is pretty high because I was out in so many matches, losing the first set and down a break, down a break, down a break, down a break. And I just kept coming back. And I kept fighting.
"I kept thinking, 'I'm not going to give up. I'm not going to stop. I'm going to do the best I can.' It just goes to show you should never give up.''
Maximum overdrive and maximum overtime
It was a demanding fortnight for Serena, but Lucie Safarova had an even more demanding schedule.
By reaching the finals in both singles and doubles, Safarova played 13 matches. She also played every day this week, including two matches on Monday, beating Maria Sharapova in the morning and winning doubles in the afternoon. She also played three sets each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the latter when she won the doubles championship. She'll also move into the singles top 10 for the first time, rising to No. 7.
"It was an amazing two weeks for me here. I loved every second of it,'' she said. "I got great wins, great fights, and reached my best result in my career so far. So I'm just really satisfied with the way I fought and played here, and it's something I will take for the future tournaments. The confidence and for me the ability that I am able to be here, able to play the Grand Slam finals, and hopefully one day I will get the trophy.''
A cold case
While Serena fought off the flu, Sharapova was unable to overcome a cold and defend her 2014 title. She had once been terrible on clay -- "like a cow on ice," as she put it -- but then worked hard and honed her game until she was almost unbeatable here. Until the fourth round this year, that is, when Safarova beat her in straight sets to knock her out of the tournament.
"I never like to look back on any year,'' she said. "I'm very grateful for what I have been able to achieve and how I have been able to change my results around. Every year is a different story, and this year my preparation started much later and got into the groove a little bit later. I had a great result in Rome. Here was much shorter than I wanted it to be, but I don't like to sit here and compare to other years. If I do that, then it's even more disappointing.''
Genie Army's hero has gone AWOL
It clearly isn't happening anytime soon, but at some point Serena is going to leave tennis to move on to a new career. Who will replace her as the next big thing in tennis?
One possibility is Eugenie Bouchard, the young Canadian with great athleticism, beauty and worldwide Genie Army supporters. SportsPro media recently ranked her the most marketable athlete -- male or female -- in the world. Bouchard said she doesn't know why that is the case, and based on her recent play, it's puzzling.
Bouchard reached the semifinals or better at the first three Grand Slams last year. But she's done little since then -- she has won only three matches total after Australia and was knocked out in the first round here.
She has the potential to be the next Sharapova, on and off the court. But she needs to get her game going again.
Another person to keep an eye on is Madison Keys, who is just behind Venus Williams in the rankings. Of course, she has to adjust to clay surfaces first. After losing in the third round here, Keys echoed Sharapova by comparing her clay game to "a hippo on ice.''
Keep it real
The most inspiring story of this tournament is that of Timea Bacsinszky.
Bacsinszky won her first WTA title in 2009 and was as high as No. 37 at age 21 in 2010. A bad foot injury, a substantial dip in results and some loss of passion for the game prompted her to consider another career ... in hotel management. As part of her internships, she washed dishes in restaurants and made beds in hotel rooms, working hard and learning how the other half lives.
In time, Bacsinszky regained her tennis game and has risen to No. 24, winning two tournaments this year and reaching the final of a third. She went all the way to the semifinals here before losing to Serena. She earned roughly half a million dollars this tournament, but she remains humble, making sure to bring gifts to people who help her and reminding people to tip.
"I gave something to them, because, even if they are provided from the WTA, at the end they are human beings,'' she said. "Just giving one time one present or saying thank you is not killing anyone.''
Those are the lessons from Roland Garros this year. Don't give up. Don't back down to an opponent, an illness or adversity. Keep your eye on your goals. Learn from losses. Work to improve. And always tip.