On Wednesday, Serena Williams spoke of her admiration for fellow American Danielle Collins, but these two fiery competitors will have to do battle in the third round. Also on Friday, the No.4-ranked American, Madison Keys, will challenge two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka. And a pair of nearly-seven-foot tall American men will take on the top two seeds remaining on the bottom half of the men’s draw: Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Friday’s play will begin at 11:00am local time on all courts except Chatrier, which starts at 12:00pm. With rain possible throughout the day, Chatrier is the only court guaranteed to see continuous play.
Aryna Sabalenka (3) vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – 11:00am on Court Simonne-Mathieu
This is a rematch from the semifinals of Madrid last month, when Sabalenka prevailed 6-2, 6-3 on her way to the title. Their only other previous meeting was at the 2019 Rogers Cup, which Pavlyuchenkova claimed 7-5 in the third. Since last autumn’s Roland Garros, no one on the WTA tour has won more than Sabalenka, who is 36-7 with four titles. But she’s yet to achieve similar success at the Majors, where she’s only 16-13 lifetime. Pavlyuchenkova remains a dangerous threat to outplay almost anyone on a given day, and she reached the quarterfinals here in 2011. But between that run and the start of this fortnight, she was just 9-9 in Paris. Just as Sabalenka did a few weeks ago, she should be able to advance past the Russian No.2 on Friday.
Victoria Azarenka (15) vs. Madison Keys (23) – 12:00pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
Surprisingly, this will only be their second career encounter, and their first wasn’t even completed. At the 2018 Miami Open, Madison Keys retired with injury down a set and a break. Unfortunately, injuries have been all too common in the careers of both these players, though both appear pretty healthy now. Keys lost in the opening round here last year, and has a losing record this year. Her season didn’t get underway until March, as a positive COVID test prevented her from traveling to Australia. But Madison has recently achieved success at this event, reaching the quarterfinals in 2019, and the semifinals in 2018. Azarenka was a semifinalist here in 2013, yet was just 4-5 since that time coming into this year. Vika has been the much better player since the tour restart last summer, with a 26-7 record. Her confidence level must be much higher at the moment, which will likely be a deciding factor in this match.
Daniil Medvedev (2) vs. Reilly Opelka – Third on Court Suzanne-Lenglen
Prior to this week, the term “French Open winning streak” was not associated with Daniil Medvedev. But after an 0-4 start to his career here, The No.2 seed has won two consecutive matches. And in the open half of the draw, a run into the second week suddenly feels plausible. Prior to this week, Reilly Opelka was also winless at this event. But following a run the semifinals of Rome last month, the 23-year-old American has reached the third round by dropping only one set, and is on the verge of being ranked high enough to be seeded at future Majors. Medvedev leads their head-to-head 2-1, though all three of those hard court clashes have gone the distance, with five of nine sets decided by tiebreaks. On clay, it would see Daniil should be able to more easily break Reilly’s big serve. But Opelka’s recent success on this surface suggests he could just be the favorite. In a match that will likely be decided by narrow margins, Medvedev’s experience at this stage of a Slam might be the difference. Reilly has never been to the fourth round at this level.
Serena Williams (7) vs. Danielle Collins – Not before 4:00pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
These two powerful hitters just met earlier this year at the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne, where Serena prevailed in a 10-point tiebreak after they split the first two sets. Williams is looking to reach the round of 16 at Roland Garros for the first time in three years. Collins is coming off a good run in Paris last October, when she was a quarterfinalist. The 27-year-old American is a player who can bulldoze the competition when her shots are clicking, as she did in the last round with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Anhelina Kalinina. But I highly doubt she’ll be able to do so against the 23-time Major singles champion, who has competed well this week, and remains the favorite on Friday.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) vs. John Isner (31) – Not before 9:00pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
Tsistipas is in the midst of a great clay court season, and is the favorite to reach the semifinals in this part of the draw, and perhaps even the final. But this may literally be the tallest task in his way. Isner is a player most do not like seeing standing across the net. The 36-year-old American can be one of the toughest players to break. And in the second round against Filip Krajinovic, he broke serve three times in one set, proving that his return game can be underrrated. Tsitsipas is 3-2 against Isner, and has claimed their last three meetings, each in straight sets. They’ve never met on clay, but this surface should certainly favor Stefanos, who is looking to reach the fourth round here for the third straight year.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Sascha Zverev (6) vs. Laslo Djere – Djere has already spent eight hours on court through two rounds, surviving two grueling contests to reach this stage. Earlier this year in Acapulco, Zverev defeated Djere 6-4, 6-3.
Kei Nishikori vs. Henri Laaksonen – Nishikori has also been on court for eight hours to this stage, winning consecutive five-setters, and extending his five-set record to an amazing 26-7. 29-year-old Laaksonen upset Roberto Bautista Agut in the last round.
Pablo Carreno Busta (12) vs. Steve Johnson – The 31-year-old American is also coming off back-to-back five-set victories. Carreno Busta has advanced much more comfortably. And unlike Johnson, Pablo has twice gone beyond the third round of this event.
Friday’s full schedule is here.
