Fourth round action is due to conclude on Monday, but the forecasted rain may derail those plans. Players scheduled for Court Philippe-Chatrier will be happy to see the new roof above them, assuring their matches will be completed.
Monday’s lineup is highlighted by this year’s Australian Open champions. Top-seeded Novak Djokovic is 34-1 on the year, but today faces a man who has beaten him in this city. American Sofia Kenin is still alive in both singles and doubles. Today she plays the only French player remaining in singles, who is on an eight-match winning streak. And two recent Australian Open semifinalists will meet in a battle of stylish one-handed backhands.
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Karen Khachanov (15)
Khachanov loves playing in Paris. He’s reached the round of 16 or better each time he’s played in the main draw of this event. That includes a run to the quarterfinals last year, after defeating Juan Martin Del Potro in this round. And two years ago, Khachanov claimed the biggest title of his career at the Paris Indoors Masters 1,000. In the championship match, he upset Novak Djokovic in straight sets. However, Djokovic has prevailed in straight sets in both their other meetings. And Novak demolished all comers during the first week of this event, losing only five games in each match thus far. Since his default at the US Open, which is his only loss since last November, he’s won eight straight matches on clay. While this will be the sternest test Djokovic has yet encountered, it’s a test he should pass rather comfortably.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) vs. Grigor Dimitrov (18)
This is the first career meeting between these two ATP Finals champions. Dimitrov won that indoor hard court event three years ago, but has never excelled on the clay. This fourth round appearance is actually the best French Open result of his career. Tsitsipas won the ATP Finals last November, and advanced to the fourth round here a year ago. However, it was in this round in 2019 when he suffered an emotional loss to Stan Wawrinka, in a match that clocked in over five hours. Until now, Stefanos hadn’t advanced this far at a Major since, which includes another tough loss to Borna Coric in the third round of last month’s US Open. But after coming back from two sets down in the opening round last week, Tsitsipas has won nine sets in a row, dominating his last two opponents. Likewise, Dimitrov hasn’t dropped a set to this stage. Tsitsipas has a far better record than Dimitrov on this surface. Between 2016 and 2019, Grigor was only 22-21 on clay. While it’s unknown how these two will matchup, Stefanos’ superior clay court resume makes him the favorite to advance.
Sofia Kenin (4) vs. Fiona Ferro
Coming off definitive losses at the hands of Elise Mertens and Victoria Azarenka prior to this event, Kenin’s confidence level could not have been high. Even so, she fought through her first two rounds here, and played an excellent match on Saturday, losing just two games. But Ferro’s confidence level may be higher. She was the champion of the first tournament in the WTA restart, on the clay of Palermo. The 23-year-old from France will certainly have strong crowd support today, as we heard the Parisians passionately root on Caroline Garcia and Hugo Gaston yesterday. Their only previous meeting was on clay, three years ago in Charleston. Kenin prevailed on that day in straight sets. Both players like to be aggressive, and possess well-rounded games. In a half of the draw where upsets have been plentiful, a Ferro victory would not be surprising. Regardless, this should be a compelling matchup which we’ll likely see many more times in the future.
Petra Kvitova (7) vs. Shuai Zhang
In a quarter of a draw where she is the only seeded player remaining, the two-time Wimbledon champion is the favorite to be the semifinalist. Kvitova reached that round here eight years ago, yet hasn’t advanced beyond the fourth round since. But she’s enjoying the cooler conditions of this unique October Major, which her body prefers. Petra is yet to drop a set, and her net play has been stellar. She’s won 81% of net points through three rounds. But her opponent also hasn’t lost a set, and isn’t too shabby at net either. Zhang was a doubles champion at the 2019 Australian Open, and has won two-thirds of her own points at net. The 31-year-old from China is a two-time Major quarterfinalist, but never on clay. This abbreviated season is actually the first time she’s had a winning record on this surface. Kvitova leads their head-to-head 3-2, though Zhang won their only meeting on clay. Still, Petra’s power and experience should be enough to propel her into the quarterfinals.
Andrey Rublev (13) vs. Marton Fucsovics
This will be a slugfest. Rublev is on an eight-match win streak, coming off a title run in Hamburg which ended just eight days ago. Like fellow Hamburg finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas, he was down two sets in his opening round, though has won nine of his last ten sets since. But Fucsovics prevailed in their only previous match, a five-setter in a 2017 David Cup playoff on clay. Surely, the match taking place in Hungary helped the 28-year-old Hungarian. This marks the third occasion Marton has reached the round of 16 at a Slam, but he’s 0-2 in his previous tries to go farther. While clay has not been his strongest surface, Fucsovics’ only career title came on this surface, at the 2017 Geneva Open. He may push Rublev today, but the 22-year-old Russian should be favored to reach his third Major quarterfinal.
Other Notable Matches on Day 9:
Ons Jabeur (30) vs. Danielle Collins. Jabeur achieved her first Major quarterfinal earlier this year in Melbourne, the first Arab woman to ever do so. Collins was a semifinalist at last year’s Australian Open, but outside that run was 5-10 at Slams until this fortnight. This is their first career meeting.
Pablo Carreno Busta (17) vs. Daniel Altmaier (Q). The 29-year-old Spaniard is a two-time US Open semifinalist, and reached the quarters here in 2017. The 22-year-old German had never even played the qualifying rounds at a Major prior to this tournament, yet has only lost one set in six matches played these last two weeks.
Laura Siegemund vs. Paula Badosa. Siegemund won her first Major doubles title last month, but this is the farthest she’s ever gone at a Slam in singles. 22-year-old Badosa was 1-5 at Majors coming into this event, but has already taken out Slam champions Sloane Stephens and Jelena Ostapenko.
In men’s doubles, Australian Open champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury (3) vs. Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares (7), the US Open champions.
In women’s doubles, Western & Southern Open champions Kveta Peschke and Demi Schuurs (6) vs. Nicole Melichar and Iga Swiatek, who of course routed top-seeded Simona Halep in singles yesterday.
Monday’s full schedule is here.
