- Victoria Azarenka [15] v Madison Keys [23]
- Stefanos Tsitsipas [5] v John Isner [31]
- Aryna Sabalenka [3] v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [31]
PARIS, FRANCE – It’s the first chance for some of the seeds to face each other as third round action begins on Friday.
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Victoria Azarenka [15] v Madison Keys [23] H2H & Match Fundamentals
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Victoria Azarenka [15] v Madison Keys [23] |
H2H: Azarenka leads 1-0 |
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Roland Garros |
Paris, France |
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Clay (O) |
Prize Money: €113,000 |
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1st match on Philippe-Chatrier (11:00 BST) |
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Victoria Azarenka is finally pain free and is finally showing the kind of form that took her to a US Open form last year. After a victory over rising star Clara Tauson, Azarenka can be satisfied with her showing so far and her counter-attacking qualities put her in good shape on this surface.
Meanwhile Madison Keys picked up a match-needed win over Leylah Fernandez in the last round meaning that Roland Garros is the first tournament since last year’s US Open that she has won back-to-back matches. With the courts being a bit faster this year, the American will fancy her chances of going deep in a depleted half of the draw.
This match will all be about on how many occasions, Azarenka can neutralise the points to her advantage. The match being on Chatrier and with conditions expected to be a bit heavier on Friday then Azarenka is firm favourite to reach the second week here.
Prediction: Azarenka in straight sets.
Stefanos Tsitsipas [5] v John Isner [31] H2H & Match Fundamentals
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Stefanos Tsitsipas [5] v John Isner [31] |
H2H: Tsitsipas leads 3-2 |
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Roland Garros |
Paris, France |
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Clay (O) |
Prize Money: €113,000 |
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4th match on Philippe-Chatrier (Not Before 20:00 BST) |
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Stefanos Tsitsipas is the firm favourite to reach the final at Roland Garros and has proved it in his opening two rounds, overcoming tough moments to reach the last 32. After losing narrowly to both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic before Paris, Tsitsipas has put himself in the best shape possibly in order to save energy heading into a week on Sunday.
However before Tsitsipas can think about the final, he has to focus on serving giant John Isner who is actually doing well on clay. Yes John Isner is doing well on clay, benefiting from the faster surface this year beating Sam Querrey and Filip Krajinovic in straight sets. The way he has been serving sees him as a threat to anyone in the draw at the moment.
Isner will give Tsitsipas a hard time but for some reason Roland Garros organisers have decided to put this on the night session billing and that will not favour the American here. Tsitsipas’ confidence on return will shine through in a tough last match of the first week.
Prediction: Tsitsipas in four sets.
Aryna Sabalenka [3] v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [31] H2H & Match Fundamentals
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Aryna Sabalenka [3] v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [31] |
H2H: 1-1 |
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Roland Garros |
Paris, France |
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Clay (O) |
Prize Money: €113,000 |
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1st match on Simonne-Mathieu (10:00 BST) |
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Just like Tsitsipas on the men’s side, Aryna Sabalenka is the favourite to make the final from the bottom half of the draw having made the final in Stuttgart and won the Madrid. The first two wins against Ana Konjuh and Aliaksandra Sasnovich have shown no signs that she’s ready to slow down just yet.
As for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova even though she has had her injury problems, the former Roland Garros quarter-finalist has impressed in her first two matches. Her solid defensive yet attacking game makes it hard for anyone to beat her and rarely gives the opposition any unforced errors.
This could be a big test for Sabalenka, but the Belarusian looks in red-hot form right now and this could be a step too far for the Russian at the moment.
Prediction: Sabalenka in three sets.
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