We are down to the final eight men and women in the singles draws, with all players three wins away from Slam glory. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic seem to be on a collision course for a highly-anticipated semifinal, though each must first defeat a top 10 seed in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, three of the four top seeds on the bottom half of the men’s draw have held to this stage, with a 22-year-old Spaniard crashing the party.
In women’s singles, defending champion Iga Swiatek is the only player left who has ever appeared in a Major semifinal, but at least three women will achieve that feat for the first time over the next two days. The bottom half of the draw is especially open, with no top 20 seeds remaining.
Also on Tuesday, two quarterfinals in both men’s and women’s doubles will be decided.
Paula Badosa (33) vs. Tamara Zidansek – 12:00pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
Badosa reached the fourth round of this event last autumn, and the semifinals of Madrid earlier this year. Many speculated she could be a threat during this fortnight, and now she’s the favorite of many to reach the final in this side of the draw. Zidansek had never been beyond the second round of a Major, but after upsetting Bianca Andreescu in her opening match, she hasn’t looked back. Tamara is ranked 85th in the world, so this impressive run comes as quite a surprise. This will be the first meeting between these two 23-year-olds, and obviously the biggest match in both of their young careers. Unless the pressure of this moment gets to her, Badosa’s more aggressive and powerful style should allow her to book her ticket into Thursday’s semifinals.
Elena Rybakina (21) vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (31) – Second on Court Philippe-Chatrier
These two players are not only facing each other in the singles quarterfinals, they’ll also be partners in the doubles quarterfinals. As dominant as 29-year-old Pavlyuchenkova has been in the fourth round of Majors (7-1), she’s never been able to win a Major quarterfinal (0-6). 21-year-old Rybakina was playing spectacularly prior to the pandemic, with a record of 21-4 to start 2020. Unfortunately, she completely lost all her momentum, that is until this tournament. Elena is yet to drop a set, which includes a comfortable victory over Serena Williams in the last round. Like Tuesday’s other women’s quarterfinal, these friends have never played before. Pavluchenkova certainly has more experience, though her past experience in this round may not be helpful. Rybakina seemed rather unfazed by her upset of the GOAT, though maintaining the same level after such a monumental win is rarely easy. Through four rounds, Elena has struck 96 winners and just 61 unforced errors, an especially impressive stat on this surface. Howver, against Victoria Azarenka on Sunday, Anastasia’s 45-27 winner-error ratio was equally as impressive. In a match that seems it could easily go either way, I’m leaning towards Pavlyuchenkova. Yes, she’s stalled at this stage six times before, but this feels like her time, coming on the heels of a semifinal run last month in Madrid. And she’s 6-1 in her last seven matches against top 25 players, which bodes well against the 22nd-ranked player in the world
Sascha Zverev (6) vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – Not before 4:00pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
Zverev has won 12 consecutive sets since losing his first two of the event. On Sunday, he completely dominated Kei Nishikori, allowing the former US Open runner-up only six games. Sascha is now 13-3 on clay this year, and 3-1 against the top 10. While Davidovich Fokina is unseeded, this run to the quarterfinals is far from shocking. He reached the round of 16 at last summer’s US Open, and is now 14-6 on clay this season. The Spaniard survived a thrilling five-set battle with Casper Ruud two rounds ago, in which he displayed a ton of grit. However, he’s 0-2 against Zverev, who is the same player who ended his last run into the second week of a Slam, when the German prevailed in New York 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. Sascha also defeated Alejandro in straight sets a month later in Cologne. We’ve seen Zverev get involved in a lot of complicated matches at Majors, and Davidovich Fokina has the ability to make this a close encounter. But in the end, Zverev should be able to achieve his first French Open semifinal.
Daniil Medvedev (2) vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) – Not before 9:00pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
At times, this has been a heated rivalry, but it’s also been a one-sided one. Medvedev is 6-1 against Tsistipas, and that even includes their only match on clay, at the 2019 Monte-Carlo Masters. That was part of a span where Daniil actually went 8-1 on clay, which was immediately followed by a 1-8 streak coming into this event. Yet Medvedev is now on a 4-0 run, and as we’ve seen over the last few years, he is extremely tough to beat once he starts winning. But Tsitsipas has significantly upped his level of play this year. He leads the ATP with 37 wins, and has reached four finals. Stefanos is looking to repeat his result from this event last autumn, which would mark his third consecutive semifinal at a Major. Despite the way Medvedev has owned their head-to-head, Tsitsipas must be considered the favorite on this surface.
Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:
Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah (2) vs. Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecau (9) – Cabal and Farah are two-time Major champions, as well as two-time tour champions this season, but were on an 0-2 run heading into this tournament. In the final of Barcelona, they defeated Krawietz and Tecau 6-4, 6-2.
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova (2) vs. Karolina Pliskova and Kristyna Pliskova – Krejcikova will also play in the singles quarterfinals on Wednesday, and won two Slams in 2018 with Siniakova. The identical twin Pliskova sisters have already taken out two seeded teams.
Darija Jurak and Andreja Klepac (11) vs. Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Iga Swiatek (14) – Mattek-Sands and Swiatek are playing in just the third event of their partnership. Jurak and Klepac have won six of their last seven matches.
Pierre-Hugues Herbet and Nicolas Mahut (6) vs. Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic – The French team have survived three straight three-setters, each by a narrower margin than the last. Brkic and Cacic are both ranked outside the top 50 in doubles.
Tuesday’s full schedule is here.
