By Tony Fairbairn
- Aryna Sabalenka [1] v Qinwen Zheng [8]
- Carlos Alcaraz [2] v Tommy Paul [12]
- Iga Swiatek [5] v Elina Svitolina [13]
- Lorenzo Musetti [8] v Frances Tiafoe [15]
PARIS, FRANCE – Aryna Sabalenka is aiming for Rome revenge when she takes on Olympic gold medallist Qinwen Zheng in the Roland Garros quarter-finals.
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Aryna Sabalenka [1] v Qinwen Zheng [8] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Aryna Sabalenka [1] v Qinwen Zheng [8] | H2H: Sabalenka leads 6-1 |
| Roland Garros 2025 | Paris, France |
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A difficult match on paper for Aryna Sabalenka against Amanda Anisimova was fairly comfortable for the world number one who secured another straight sets win. The top seed is yet to drop a set at Roland Garros and has solidified her place as the favourite to go all the way and win the title. However, Sabalenka will now that she cannot be complacent now given this was the stage where she fell last year as her bid for a first final in Paris continues into the quarter-finals.
A familiar foe awaits Sabalenka in the form of Olympic gold medallist Qinwen Zheng who has come through a tricky draw so far. The world number seven had to dig deep in order to defeat Liudmila Samsonova as she continues her good form in Paris following on from the Olympics. After losing six consecutive matches to Sabalenka, Zheng finally banished her demons in Rome but will know that repeating the trick at Roland Garros will be a tough ask against a motivated world number one.
Sabalenka will aim to be aggressive and use the serve to dictate play while adding a few dropshots to keep Zheng guessing. Meanwhile, Zheng will aim to be aggressive on return while using spin and depth to force shorter balls from the world number one. This will be a tight match and given last week’s success for Zheng this could be too close to call. However, Sabalenka’s current form suggests that she has the quality and motivation to see this match through.
Prediction: Sabalenka in three sets.
Carlos Alcaraz [2] v Tommy Paul [12] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Carlos Alcaraz [2] v Tommy Paul [12] | H2H: Alcaraz leads 4-2 |
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Another testing match for Carlos Alcaraz but the Spaniard nullified a very good performance from Ben Shelton to book his place in the quarter-finals. Although Alcaraz has been through a couple of testing matches, the defending champion’s ability to problem solve in big moments has been impressive and will stand him in good shape ahead of the latter stages. Now the Spaniard looks to save his best tennis for the final few matches as a successful title defence is in Alcaraz’s sights after a turbulent start to the year.
Next up for Alcaraz is another American in the form of Tommy Paul who has had quite the journey to the quarter-finals. The start of the tournament saw Paul overcome some marathon five set matches but the American’s conditioning saw him get through those tests and a straight sets win over Alexei Popyrin ensured his place in the last eight. Now Paul bids for to reach a maiden Roland Garros semi-final having had success at other Grand Slam tournaments in the past.
Alcaraz will use the forehand to dictate play as this will be a stern test of his overall rally tolerance. Meanwhile Paul will look to be aggressive on the backhand as he will aim to rush the Spaniard’s baseline game. This will be a good examination of Alcaraz’s game but the Spaniard should have too much quality, variety and confidence for Paul, who has played a lot of tennis so far in Paris.
Prediction: Alcaraz in four sets.
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Iga Swiatek [5] v Elina Svitolina [13] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Iga Swiatek [5] v Elina Svitolina [13] | H2H: Swiatek leads 3-1 |
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The future for Iga Swiatek at this year’s Roland Garros looked rather bleak at the start of her match with Elena Rybakina as she was a set and a break down. However, a tactical adjustment on return and a mid-match reset helped Swiatek to keep her title defence alive as she made it a 25th consecutive Roland Garros victory. The Pole is now tied with Monica Seles on consecutive wins in Paris as she proved why she is the defending champion here. Now Swiatek will be hoping that can inspire some confidence ahead of the rest of the tournament.
Speaking of confidence, Elina Svitolina must have bucket loads of that after knocking out last year’s finalist Jasmine Paolini. The Ukrainian saved match points against the Italian in order to advance to the quarter-finals in a match that even she doesn’t know how she won. That will hope to spark more energy into Svitolina’s game who is now looking for that big run at Roland Garros and triumph where she failed to do so in the past at the peak of her powers.
Swiatek will use the forehand to put Svitolina on the backfoot as she will continue to take the ball early on return. Meanwhile Svitolina will use the backhand to counter-attack as she will need to serve aggressively in this contest. This will be a close contest with Svitolina expected to test Swiatek’s vulnerabilities. However, Swiatek will dig deep into her bag of tricks and will edge to a 16th consecutive win in Paris.
Prediction: Swiatek in three sets.
Lorenzo Musetti [8] v Frances Tiafoe [15] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Lorenzo Musetti [8] v Frances Tiafoe [15] | H2H: Tiafoe leads 3-2 |
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It’s been an exceptional clay court season for Lorenzo Musetti so far having made his Masters 1000 breakthrough in Monte-Carlo as well as producing deep runs in Madrid and Rome. The confidence as well as tactical intelligence was on full show as he outlasted Holger Rune to make the quarter-finals at Roland Garros. Now Musetti has a golden opportunity to reach a first Roland Garros semi-final and continue his consistent form over the last few weeks.
Standing in Musetti’s way of the semi-finals is Frances Tiafoe who continues to impress at Roland Garros. Tiafoe’s win over Daniel Altmaier means he is the first male American to reach the quarter-finals without dropping a set since Andre Agassi in 1995. The American’s serve and power on the forehand has proven deadly so far and he will hope that continues as he has his eyes set on a first Roland Garros semi-final.
Musetti will use the backhand to create angles as he will look to move the American around the court and force errors from Tiafoe. The 15th seed will need to serve aggressively as he will look to put pressure on Musetti’s returning, coming to the net to finish off points efficiently. This will be a good test of Musetti’s consistency as Tiafoe has been playing some high-quality tennis so far. However, Musetti won’t be complacent now and he should edge his way to the last four in Paris.
Prediction: Musetti in four sets.
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