Stefanos Tsitsipas will fight for a spot in his first ever French Open quarterfinal against the in-form Grigor Dimitrov. Hamburg champion Andrey Rublev and Marton Fucsovics will also be in action on Monday.
(5) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. (18) Grigor Dimitrov
Stefanos Tsitsipas came into the French Open two days after he played the Hamburg final against Andrey Rublev. After his near miss in the first round against Jaume Munar, it seemed his decision to play Hamburg would cost him dearly. Three rounds later, Tsitsipas is back to looking like he’s ready to make a deep run in Paris.
The Greek breezed through his second-round match against Pablo Cuevas and Aljaz Bedene retired in the third after Tsitsipas thoroughly thrashed him in the first two sets. There are no more signs of fatigue in the Greek’s game.
Grigor Dimitrov breezed through his first three rounds. Like Tsitsipas, Dimitrov’s third round opponent (Roberto Carballes Baena) retired after the second set. The Bulgarian is playing well, but he hasn’t been tested yet at Roland Garros. Tsitsipas will do just that. Dimitrov also had a successful run-up to the French. The world No. 20 fought his way to the quarterfinals at the Rome Masters, where he lost to Denis Shapovalov. He now finds himself facing another young gun for a spot in the quarters.
Tsitsipas has generally been in better form than Dimitrov and more consistent on the dirt. Expect Dimitrov to put up a fight, but Tsitsipas should find his way through to his first French Open quarterfinal.
Cheryl pick: Tsitispas in 4
Ricky pick: Tsitsipas in 3
(13) Andrey Rublev vs. Marton Fucsovics
Like Tsitsipas, Rublev elected to play Hamburg the week before Roland Garros. And he similarly came into Paris a bit tired and struggled through his first round match against Sam Querrey. He has righted the ship since and he was in excellent form against Kevin Anderson in the third round.
Marton Fucsovics already has a huge upset to his name during this fortnight. The Hungarian took out the No. 4 seed Daniil Medvedev in the first round and he hasn’t dropped a set since. Fucsovics has seen his ranking dip from a career high of No. 31 in the world last March to his current spot at No. 63, but he’s playing good tennis this week.
Unfortunately for the underdog, Rublev is playing better. The Russian sits at a career-high No. 12 and he has progressively gotten better with each match this week.
Cheryl pick: Rublev in 3
Ricky pick: Rublev in 3
Tsi in 4; Rublev in 4.
I’ll be surprised if Rublev beats this Fucsovics in 3.
I’ll be double surprised if Tsitsipas beats Dimitrov in 3 also. I wonder what Dimitrov’s record is like against right handed single handed backhand opponents other than Fed.
Very high quality tennis between Stefanos and Dimi. What on earth is Dimi wearing? It hurts my eyes to look.at it.
Too many errors on important points from Dimitrov. This match was there for the taking.
Dimitrov has played a bit in his shell or most of this match probably due to how much breathing room Tsitipas gives you from the outset. Starting to play more aggressive now. Will it be too late.
Dimitrov just retire now. You’ve had already too many opportunities to win this match.
Some epic winners and epic chokes going on..
These players have way too much respect for each other.
…and Dimitrov just isnt placing enough value on each point right now. He loses 2-3 in a row and it’s like it has no bearing on the match.
You can’t win at this level at this stage of a GS if you don’t place immense value on each and every point.