By Matthew Marolf
Both Stefanos Tsitsipas and Stan Wawrinka are up two sets, but their matches against Filip Krajinovic and Grigor Dimitrov were interrupted on Friday by darkness. And the rest of the third round singles matches are due to be decided on Day 7. Major champions Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep, and Juan Martin Del Potro are just some of the top seeds who will play on Saturday.
Serena Williams (10) vs. Sofia Kenin
It’s easy for most players to be overwhelmed by the idea of playing the 23-time Major singles champion, especially when she is your countrywoman, and 17 years your senior. But I’m curious to see how Kenin reacts in this situation. She’s proven herself to be a strong competitor on court: just look at her efforts in the Fed Cup final last year.
While she went down in defeat in both singles matches, she pushed two more experienced players for a total of over six hours on opposing soil. And she has some impressive wins this season over names like Victoria Azarenka, Madison Keys, and Caroline Garcia. Of course Serena will be the favorite, but this is only her 12th match of the year, and could be prone to an upset if Kenin can stay aggressive and block out the weight of the occasion.
Simona Halep (3) vs. Lesia Tsurenko (27)
Coming off a back injury that ended her 2018 season early, and the loss of Darren Cahill from her coaching team, Halep has been underwhelming this year. While she has 25 match wins, she’s only reached two finals, and not won either. She was outplayed in the second set on Thursday by Magda Linette, but rebounded nicely to close out the match in three.
And this matchup plays heavily to Halep’s favour: she’s 7-0 against Tsurenko. And while the 30-year-old has made the fourth round or better at two of the last four Majors, she needed two days to finish her second round match, which went to 11-9 in the third. This should be a rather comfortable win for the defending champion.
Fabio Fognini (9) vs. Roberto Bautista Agut (18)
This has four or five sets written all over it. Extended matches at Majors are not foreign to either man. Fognini is the more accomplished clay court player, with eight titles on the surface in his career, the biggest one coming six weeks ago in Monte Carlo.
Bautista Agut is a rare Spaniard who does not excel on clay, with only one title on the terra baute. Both men have one Major quarterfinal on their resume: Fabio here eight years ago, and Roberto just earlier this year in Australia. Fognini leads their head-to-head 6-3, and 3-1 on clay. Fabio has admitted to his body being less than 100% of late, and Roberto is yet to drop a set this week, so I give the slight edge to Bautista Agut for the slight upset.
Sascha Zverev (5) vs. Dusan Lajovic (30)
This is a rematch from last year’s French Open, when Zverev needed five sets to overcome the Serbian. That’s the only time these two have faced. Sascha has experienced a disappointing 2019 coming off his ATP Finals victory, but finally lifted his first trophy of the year last week in Geneva.
Lajovic was the man Fognini defeated in the Monte Carlo final. Dusan took out Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev, and David Goffin that week. He didn’t win another match coming into this tournament, with three opening round losses. But he easily won his first two rounds here, and obviously knows how to challenge Zverev’s game based on last year’s result. This could be a dangerous match for Sascha, who’s played a lot of tennis over the past 10 days.
Dominic Thiem (4) vs. Pablo Cuevas
Here we have two clay court experts, though Thiem’s the only one to have success at the Majors. Cuevas has never been farther than the third round at this level, a feat he’s achieved only here in Paris, in four of the last five years. But Thiem only owns a 3-2 edge over the 33-year-old veteran, with one of Pablo’s victories coming at this tournament.
The last time Dominic lost early at Roland Garros was to Cuevas in the second round in 2015. However, it would be startling if that result repeated itself four years later, as Thiem is a different player now. Pablo may hang around for awhile in this match, but Dominic should advance to the round of 16.
Other notable matches on Day 7:
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Salvatore Caruso (Q), an Italian who had never won a match at a Major before this week.
Naomi Osaka (1) vs. Katerina Siniakova, the doubles world No.1. , Osaka will be eager for a comfortable win after two extremely complicated rounds.
Juan Martin Del Potro (8) vs. Jordan Thompson of Australia. How will Del Potro feel after playing five sets on a bum knee two days ago?
Australian No.1 Ash Barty (8) Andrea Petkovic, who won her first two matches 7-5 and 8-6 in the third.
Karen Khachanov (10), champion of the Paris Indoors six months ago, vs. Martin Klizan, who needed two days and five sets to take out Lucas Pouille.