By Ros Satar, at Roland Garros
- Sofia Kenin v Ashleigh Barty [8]
- Novak Djokovic [1] v Jan-Lennard Struff | Djokovic leads H2H 1-0
- Simona Halep [3] v Iga Swiatek | First meeting
PARIS, FRANCE – Today the quarter-finals will be set, and once again we will be firmly on Chatrier as the line-up looks to be a blockbuster.
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Sofia Kenin v Ashleigh Barty [8] | Barty leads H2H 2-0
Having delivered one of the shocks of the tournament, feisty young Sofia Kenin will face Ashleigh Barty for a place in the quarter-final of Roland Garros. Kevin, who became the first American to defeat Serena Williams at a Slam since Sloane Stephens in the 2013 Australian Open quarter-final, will face the Aussie No. 1 and will be looking for a first win.
However, she will be facing someone who is also turning in her best performance at Roland Garros, having only made it to the second round twice (2013 and 2018).
Kenin played very aggressive tennis against Williams and was able to exploit her lack of movement, but she will not have that luxury against Barty, who has an all-court game and can generate angles with pace and spin, and her variety is her strength. Her doubles prowess means she can move opponents all over the court, before moving in to finish her points.
Kenin was utterly giddy after her win, but can she come down from Cloud Nine to face Barty? The Aussie is probably just a little steadier.
Prediction: Barty in three sets.
Novak Djokovic [1] v Jan-Lennard Struff | Djokovic leads H2H 1-0
More history awaits World No. 1 Novak Djokovic – as he bids to be the first man to reach 10 straight quarter-finals at Roland Garros. Meanwhile his opponent Jan-Lennard Struff is looking to reach the quarter-finals of any Grand Slam for the first time.
Struff smoked Denis Shapovalov in straight sets and had a four-setter in his second round, before taking out No. 12 seed Borna Coric in five sets, grabbing his best result in Slams. Moreover his build-up saw a best result of the quarter-final in Barcelona, but tailed off a little as the clay-court season wore on.
So far Djokovic has yet to drop a set, and has cruised through the rounds, but Struff has been playing some solid tennis here, and don’t forget that Djokovic was stunned in the quarter-finals by Marco Cecchinato and has gone out at that stage for the last two years.
In all honesty Djokovic will of course have too much for Struff, but this might be his first real test.
Prediction: Djokovic in four sets.
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Simona Halep [3] v Iga Swiatek | First meeting
Defending champion Simona Halep has admitted to being nervous, and this might be one of those matches to get the butterflies fluttering. Iga Swiatek is making her transition from the juniors to the main tour, and she has no fear. She reached the semi-finals of the junior competition last year and the emotion was evident as she came back from a first set bagel to take out Monica Puig to be the first Pole since Aga Radwanska to reach the fourth round (2016).
Halep might take caution though, the last teenager to reach the R16 was one Jelena Ostapenko who went on to claim the title – at Halep’s expense.
Swiatek plays a big game and she is not afraid to use it – decent serve, solid off the ground and also comfortable at using drop-shots to catch her opponents napping. However, she is up against one of the best scramblers in the business, and Halep’s ability to run anything down, as well as her own aggressive game might just be a little too much for the teen.
Prediction: Halep in three sets.
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