The quarterfinals begin on Tuesday in Paris.
The ATP singles quarterfinals on Tuesday are quite scintillating. 2022 US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz faces two-time Major runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas, and 22-time Slam champ Novak Djokovic plays Karen Khachanov, who is vying for his third consecutive Major semifinal.
And the WTA quarterfinals are far from shabby. 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova takes on 2021 Australian Open semifinalist Karolina Muchova. And this year’s Aussie Open champ Aryna Sabalenka squares off against new mom Elina Svitolina, who is trying to overcome a painful past in French Open quarterfinals.
Karolina Muchova vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – 11:00am on Court Philippe Chatrier
After injuries interrupted the last two years of her career, Muchova is now a strong 21-7 this season. This is her fourth Major quarterfinal within the last four years, and her first in Paris. Karolina has dropped one set to this stage, and upset eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari in the first round.
A knee injury caused Pavlyuchenkova to miss most of 2022, and she had a losing record in 2023 prior to this fortnight. Before to her run to the final here two years ago, she was 0-6 in Slam quarterfinals. Anastasia has won three consecutive three-setters over seeded players.
They’ve met three times on three different surfaces within the past four years. Pavlyuchenkova won on hard court and clay, while Muchova won on grass. But based on recent form, I favor Karolina to even their head-to-head and achieve her second Major semifinal.
Elina Svitolina vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2) – Not Before 12:30pm on Court Philippe Chatrier
This will unfortunately be another matchup between Svitolina and a Russian or Belarussian player, where no handshake is expected after the match. Hopefully the French crowd will refrain from booing that on Tuesday, as they have after Svitolina defeated Russia’s Anna Blinkova and Daria Kasatkina.
Outside of that, Svitolina’s run at this event has been inspiring. Having become a mother less than eight months ago, and in just her fifth tour-level tournament since her return, she’s now on an eight-match win streak, after winning a title immediately prior to this event in Strasbourg. But Elina is 0-3 in Roland Garros quarterfinals, having lost an especially heartbreaking one in 2017 to Simona Halep after being up a set and two breaks, and even holding a match point in the second set tiebreak.
Sabalenka continues to dominate this season. She’s now 33-5, and 11-0 at Majors. Aryna has not dropped a set through four rounds in Paris. This is her best French Open performance to date, and Aryna is looking to achieve her fifth Major semifinal out of her last seven appearances.
They have split two previous encounters, both of which went to a third set. However, their clay court matchup three years ago went to Svitolina. Yet Sabalenka remains a considerable favorite to prevail on Tuesday.
Novak Djokovic (3) vs. Karen Khachanov (11) – Third on Court Philippe Chatrier
This is a 55th career Major quarterfinal for Djokovic, and he’s won 13 of his last 14, dating back five years. The only loss during that span came here a year ago, when he was defeated by Rafael Nadal in four sets. Novak is now 24-4 this year, and has won all 12 sets he’s played thus far in Paris. He is looking for his 90th career win at Roland Garros.
This is a fifth career Major quarterfinal for Khachanov, but his third in a row after advancing to the semifinals in both New York and Melbourne. He is 21-6 lifetime at the French Open, and 23-10 in 2023. Karen played four more sets to reach this quarterfinal than Novak.
Their history has been quite one-sided, with Novak leading 8-1 overall, and 2-0 on clay. Karen’s only victory came five years ago in this same city, though it was in the final of the hard court Paris Indoors, Khachanov’s biggest career title to date. While Khachanov’s powerful groundstrokes could enable him to threaten Djokovic on Tuesday, and I’m not convinced Novak is 100% healthy or confident after struggling this clay court season, the 22-time Major champ remains a favorite to advance to his 12th semifinal at Roland Garros.
Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) – Not Before 8:15pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
Alcaraz is 34-3 on the year, and easily dispatched of another one-handed backhand, Lorenzo Musetti, on Sunday. He’s dropped one set in this tournament, during his second round contest with Taro Daniel. Carlitos is vying for his second Slam semifinal, after winning the last Slam he played.
Tsitsipas is 29-8 this season, and also lost one set thus far. And notably, the Greek is 6-0 in Major quarterfinals, having taken his last 12 sets he’s played. Most impressively, that includes a two-sets-to-love comeback victory over Rafael Nadal, two years ago at the Australian Open.
However, Tsitsipas is 0-4 against Alcaraz, and 0-2 on clay. When they met this past April in the final of Barcelona, Carlitos won in straight sets. And while I expect Stefanos to make this an extremely tight contest, the World No.1 is still the favorite.
Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.
