Rafael Nadal’s routine trek through the top section of the French Open draw is expected to continue when he meets unseeded Maximilian Marterer on Monday. Kevin Anderson and Diego Schwartzman are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Maximilian Marterer
While there has been plenty of intrigue throughout a packed bottom half of the French Open draw, where contenders like Alexander Zverev and David Goffin have been slogging through five-setters left and right, Nadal is making expectedly routine work on the other side. The 10-time Roland Garros champion had to fight off a stern test from Simone Bolelli in his opener with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(9) victory, but he dropped a grand total of 11 games against Guido Pella and Richard Gasquet. Nadal is now 82-2 lifetime at this tournament and 107-2 in best-of-five matches on clay during his illustrious career.
A much different left-hander will be on the other side of the net on Monday. Marterer is 10 years younger than Nadal (who turned 32 on Sunday) and had never won an ATP-level match prior to this season. But it is all coming together for the up-and-coming German, who is 14-9 in 2018 with a third-round performance at the Australian Open, a semifinal run in Munich, and French Open victories over Ryan Harrison, Denis Shapovalov, and Jurgen Zopp. It goes without saying, though, that Marterer has never played on this kind of stage and he has also never faced an opponent of this caliber. Marterer owns a decent amount of firepower, but nowhere near enough to prevent his Roland Garros run from ending in swift fashion at Nadal’s hands.
Pick: Nadal in 3 losing 8-10 games
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(11) Diego Schwartzman vs. (6) Kevin Anderson
Who is the only player left in the tournament who has lost fewer games than Nadal? That would be none other than Schwartzman, who did not drop a set and surrendered a total of 21 games while disposing of Calvin Hemery, Adam Pavlasek, and Borna Coric on his way to the second week. The 12th-ranked Argentine thrashed both Hemery and Pavlasek 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 before making surprisingly quick 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 work of Coric. Schwartzman is now an outstanding 10-2 in his last 12 Grand Slam matches, a stretch that also features a quarterfinal finish at the U.S. Open and a fourth-round appearance in Melbourne.
Up next for the 11th seed on Monday is a third career showdown against Anderson, who leads the head-to-head series 2-0. The seventh-ranked South African prevailed 7-6(5), 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 at the 2015 Australian Open and 7-6(4), 6-3 one season later on the red clay of Nice. Anderson has also improved greatly since those meetings, most notably enjoying a string of 2017 majors in which he reached fourth rounds at the French Open and Wimbledon to go along with a runner-up showing at the U.S. Open. The No. 6 seed earned his spot in the last 16 this time around by taking out Paolo Lorenzi, Pablo Cuevas, and Mischa Zverev. Anderson has not impressed as much as his opponent through three rounds and this surface should help Schwartzman withstand some huge hitting and play his way into extended baseline rallies.
Pick: Schwartzman in 5
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Nadal’s draw haha
Marterer in 4 in the upset of the year
Anderson’s got no chance against this genuine clay courter that reminds me a lot of Guillermo. Coric was v. strong form-line and was totally outclassed.
Schwartzman in 4.
Jim, given my bet on Marterer I would love for you to be right about that one. Certainly it would be the upset of the year, probably the decade or more in pro tennis.
However, I disagree with you about Diego-Anderson. Though I would love for Schwartzman to win, he won’t if Anderson plays his A game. I’m picking Anderson in 4.
Btw, what do you think went wrong for Nishikori against Thiem?
Rafa in 3 losing 3-5 games
Schwartzman in 5
Lol
You are LOL and you picked Marterer to win?
Now that is funny!
Oh just to be clear, I am picking Rafa in straight sets. I am going back and forth between Anderson and Schwartzman.
Rafa in straight sets; Anderson in four.
Rafa will be tested, a little, but wins in 3; Sman in 4.
Uh oh. Goffin called for the trainer.
What about Schwartzman reminds you of Vilas?
Guillermo Coria
His playing style, the way he moves on clay. It’s authentic, Anderson will be lucky to win a set.
Why am I getting a sneaky feeling that Djoko is winning RG this year out of nowhere just like Fed won in AO 17
I had this same feeling in AO 17 that Fed will win it right from start of tournament ..both were not expected to win (neither Fed then nor Djoko now)
I can’t personally see it unless somehow there’s a massive upset against Rafa or an injury.
Djokovic is playing pretty well overall right now, but he’s still patchy, making uncharacteristic errors at times. It hasn’t really cost him much, except against RBA, but Rafa is a level or two up from that and would be able to exploit it, I’m sure.
Oh here we go again!
Based on what? The same feeling that you had about Fed at the AO in 2017?
I don’t believe it!
Where is the faith in Rafa!
Well Djokovic is almost guarenteed a final imo, as he should beat Cecchinato, and will face a most likely exhausted Thiem or Zverev in the semis.
Djokovic is a bad matchup for Verdasco because he doesn’t like the grind and plays too clean. I wouldn’t read into this result too much.
If Djoko playing this way could win the FO, I think the whole atp tour and the field is a big joke! The way he’s playing, I won’t be surprised that Thiem would beat him again should they meet.
Even if we count out Rafa, those guys in Rafa’s half of the draw – Diego, Anderson, Foggy, Cilic, Delpo and Isner – all are playing better tennis than Djoko’s opponents so far and anyone of them may beat this Djoko if Djoko continues to play this way and they playing their best tennis!
I’m sorry, I’m not impressed at all by this Djoko; his serve is solid no doubt but other parts of his game are not that great. He’s basically grinding to a win and relying on Verdasco making errors. Verdasco is simply horrible!
Goffin is hard done by the rain delay and certainly not at his best, loses to the Italian guy now so Djoko gets to play this Italian guy, another lucky break for Djoko. I doubt the Italian is experienced enough to deal with Djoko’s grinding and retrieving and hitting one more shot back all the time!
Goffin had an arm/elbow problem (I didn’t watch the match, I only saw some pictures):
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dex0zT3X0AIvu59.jpg
lucky,
You may not be impressed, but Sanju has that feeling again! Honestly, this is driving me crazy.
I happen to agree with you. I think Novak has not looked all that great but managed to get this far. I do not think he is getting to the final,
Marterer is a good future talent, but that won’t be enough here. Nadal in 3
Anderson is in pretty good form, I just think his opponent’s is even better. Schwartzman in 4
Goffin had to come back from two sets down in his first match. Then that match with Monfils over two days. I guess it was too much for him.
That’s a shame because Goffin was playing well. He’s like the hard luck guy these days.
Yeah, poor soul, first his injury at last year’s FO, then the eye injury this year, now even the rain makes life difficult for him!
Yes I feel for Goffin. That freak ankle injury at RG last year, then the eye injury. He finally gets healthy and is playing well and this stupid business with having to stop playing because of no light and carrying the match over to the next day, is unfortunate. Without a day’s rest, Goffin was just done in.
I felt equally sorry for Monfils, who should have won only he was spent.
And, as someone who has relatives in Goffins part of the world, he’s one of my favourites .
Rafa in three Diego in four
I put a small bet on Marterer at 60/1. Sure he’s a long-shot, but after watching a couple matches I thought he could definitely give Nadal some trouble. He’s got power from both sides, can volley, is left-handed, and is 10 years younger. He’s obviously come from nowhere this year. With those odds I couldn’t resist.
Anderson will have to be on his game, but I think he will be and will just have too much firepower for Diego. Anderson in 4.
To be fair, you claim most people Nadal faces could “give him some trouble”.
I generally only say that about big hitters. There are several left in the draw, including Marterer. He has the lowest chance of any of them of pulling off the upset, but he may have more than, say, Diego, imo.
Obviously I don’t think Marterer will win. But he has a small chance, and at 60/1 I thought it was worth a shot.
Never saw Marterer playing so I’m not really aware of what he could bring to the table. I’m expecting a straight set win for Rafa.
Altough Anderson would be a easier opponent for Rafa,I want Diego to win. It’s more than time for the little Argentinian to reach a Slam QF,he’s been playing very well in Paris so far!
Anderson is a servebot and struggles on this surface. Probably Diego will expose his cumbersome movement. Let’s go little man!
Lol
Schwartzman is playing his best at the moment, and Anderson is not playing his best, so this should be 4 close sets, but Schwartzman should be able to win, as he loves to counter Andersons hardhitting gamestyle and have a great advantage from the surface.
Schwartzman has the tools to beat Anderson esp on clay, but for me, he blows hot and cold too often .So, Anderson in five.
Thanks for the response. I was a big admirer of Vilas back in the day, loved to watch him play on clay, and I like Schwartzman a lot now, but never saw the similarity. Aside from both being great cc baseliners, of course. I actually picked Anderson to win their match – he’s playing well this week and while Schwartzman is also playing very well at RG he’s thrown in some bad matches this year. Obviously it could go either way.
Beat-down by Anderson in the first set, Kevin just has too much firepower when he’s on. Let’s see if Diego can find some way to counter, or (more likely) Anderson’s level drops off a bit in the second. If not, this one could be over quickly.
1st set stats on Anderson-Diego tell quite a story about the importance of the serve, especially on clay. Diego hit 77% of 1st serves in, but only won 26% of the those points, losing the set 6-1. If you don’t have an advantage on serve your chances of winning are extremely low.
Anderson just about unplayable right now.
Especially on clay?? Are you joking? It’s especially on grass followed by HCs! On clay a big serve could be neutralized as long as the returner knows how to do it!