In the men’s draw, there is no evidence to suggest Rafael Nadal won’t win his 11th French Open title one week from today. Will anything happen in the next week to prove that assumption untrue? Remaining on his side of the draw are many big hitters who play the type of game that has overwhelmed Nadal on clay in the past. The other side of the draw has numerous younger talents looking to win their first major. And of course we cannot forget about the 12-time major winner still alive in the draw, Novak Djokovic.
In the women’s draw, returning former champions have dominated the headlines in the first week. Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have fought their way into impressive form, and now they’ll face off in a much-anticipated fourth round matchup on Monday. But there’s many other top contenders to consider as well, with a total of 34 major singles titles owned by the women in the round of 16.
Sascha Zverev vs. Karen Khachanov
Can Sascha Zverev finally reach a quarterfinal at a Grand Slam event? We’ll find out in the first match of the day on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. He’ll need to trust all the work he’s put into his conditioning allows him recover from back-to-back five setters. On Friday, he saved a match point against Damir Dzumhur in a near four-hour third rounder. You know Zverev will be feeling a ton of pressure as he’s tries to breakthrough at a major for the first time. His opponent on Sunday is a 22-year-old Russian who looked pretty impressive in week one of Roland Garros. Khachanov easily dispatched of French number one Lucas Pouille. Karen hits a big ball, and could cause problems for Zverev if his game in on, and if Zverev plays passively as he has in the past at the majors. Sascha has lost to fellow members of his generation like Khachanov at the last two majors: Borna Coric and Hyeon Chung. In their only previous meeting, Sascha won in straight sets on a hard court. Despite Zverev’s struggles in his last two rounds, and his Grand Slam shortcomings, I suspect Zverev will overcome all that and advance to Tuesday’s quarterfinals, where he’d face the winner of the next match in today’s preview.
Dominic Thiem vs. Kei Nishikori
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The second match of the day on Court Philippe Chatrier will have two of the best clay players of the past few years. Kei has twice been a quarterfinalist at the French Open, while Thiem is a two-time defending semifinalist. Dominic is the only man to defeat Nadal in clay in two years, but is this a good matchup for him? Nishikori won both of their career meetings, including one on clay at the Rome Masters in 2016. These men can be prone to prolonged matches earlier in majors that exhaust them for later rounds, and this could be the match that does just that for both of them. Kei is yet to return to 100% from his wrist issues, so I’ll give the edge to Thiem in what should be a good one.
Sloane Stephens vs. Anett Kontaveit
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Next up on Chatrier will be two women who just yesterday survived intense battles in Paris. Camila Giorgi served for the match twice against Stephens, but Sloane came back to win 8-6 in the third. Anett Kontaveit took out one of the hottest players and fiercest competitors on tour, Petra Kvitova, in two tiebreaks. Kontaveit has had a strong clay season, reaching the semifinals in both Stuttgart and Rome. Stephens did not play her best in the clay lead-up events, but we’ve seen in the past year how Sloane can get hot in a flash and win big titles. This will be their first meeting, and the difference may come down to experience. While Sloane is 0-4 in previous round of 16 matches at the French Open, Kontaveit has never been farther than this stage at any major. Stephens will likely play freely after escaping defeat on Saturday, and she’s hard to beat when her offense is clicking as it was in her first two rounds. Sloane moves extremely well, which can shrink the court even more so on clay than other surfaces. I expect her to get passed the talented Estonian.
Caroline Wozniacki vs. Daria Kasatkina
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This will be the final match of the day back over on Lenglen. Wozniacki has played her best tennis since her Australian Open title run in January during the first week of Roland Garros. After a tight first set against American Danielle Collins, she’s dropped just five games in her last five sets. Meanwhile, big things have been expected of Daria Kasatkina for a few years now, and that’s starting to come to fruition. She was a finalist in both Dubai and Indian Wells earlier this year, where she had victories over Garbine Muguruza, Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, Angelique Kerber, and Wozniacki herself. In fact, Daria has two wins this year over Caroline, as she also ousted her in St. Petersburg. Kasatkina is fully comfortable on the clay, as her only career title is on this surface: she won in Charleston in 2017. While Daria is another young player who is yet to get passed the fourth round at a major, this feels like the day that will change. She’ll be confident coming off her two previous victories over Wozniacki, and clay is not Caroline’s strongest surface.
Order of play
Court Philippe Chatrier (play starts at 1100)
13-Madison Keys (U.S.) v 31-Mihaela Buzarnescu (Romania)
7-Dominic Thiem (Austria) v 19-Kei Nishikori (Japan)
25-Anett Kontaveit (Estonia) v 10-Sloane Stephens (U.S.)
20-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) v 30-Fernando Verdasco (Spain)
Court Suzanne Lenglen (play starts at 1100)
Karen Khachanov (Russia) v 2-Alexander Zverev (Germany)
26-Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic) v Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan)
8-David Goffin (Belgium) v Marco Cecchinato (Italy)
14-Daria Kasatkina (Russia) v 2-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark)
