Dominic Thiem will try to extend his undefeated record against Gael Monfils when they meet again on Monday at Roland Garros. Juan Martin Del Potro and Karen Khachanov are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
(4) Dominic Thiem vs. (14) Gael Monfils
Thiem and Monfils will be going head-to-head for the fifth time in their careers when they clash in round four of the French Open on Monday. All four of their previous encounters have gone the way of Thiem, who is 2-0 at Monfils’ expense on clay. They most recently faced each other last year on the clay courts of Buenos Aires, where Thiem dominated 6-2, 6-1. A 2019 Indian Wells encounter never came to fruition because Monfils’ withdrew citing an Achilles’ problem.
Interestingly, that was the third time that Thiem and Monfils have seen a scheduled matchup get derailed by an injury. This one, however, should not be walkover; it should be every bit as good as advertised. Thiem was the 2018 Roland Garros runner-up and he is the reigning Barcelona champion. So far this fortnight he has defeated Tommy Paul, Alexander Bublik, and Pablo Cuevas all in four sets. Monfils has recovered from his latest physical struggles to the tune of straight-set victories over Taro Daniel, Adrian Mannarino, and Antoine Hoang. No opponent has managed to take more than four games in any set. Monfils obviously has the talent to pull off an upset, but the physical and mental edge in a best-of-five situation on this surface goes to Thiem.
Pick: Thiem in 5
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(10) Karen Khachanov vs. (8) Juan Martin Del Potro
The record is also a perfect one in the Del Potro vs. Khachanov matchup–a 3-0 edge for the Argentine, to be exact. He got the best of Khachanov three times in 2018; 7-6(4), 6-3 in Auckland, 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-7(0), 6-4 at the Australian Open, and 6-4, 7-6(4) in Beijing. That is somewhat surprising given the Russian was on fire for much of last year, to the extent that he was an alternate at the Nitto ATP Finals. Building on such success has proven to be a tough task for Khachanov, who is just 13-12 this season with a hard-to-believe eight losses in his opening match of a tournament.
Del Potro has been dealing with knee problems of late, but after playing only one event through the first four months of 2019 he finally appears to be benefiting from a clean bill of health. The ninth-ranked Argentine started to show signs of progress in Rome, where he destroyed David Goffin and Casper Ruud before holding two match points against Novak Djokovic in a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 loss. Del Potro needed five sets to get past Yoshihito Nishioka in round three, but he impressively bounced back to crush Jordan Thompson 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 on Saturday. As the record suggests, this is not a good matchup for Khachanov; he wields the same style as Del Potro but does not do anything in particular better than his more experienced opponent.
Pick: Del Potro in 3
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delpo in 3 tight sets so good to c him get this far in the tourney.
thiem in 3 tight sets or 4 at worst I think this is a let down spot for la monf
Thiem in 4, DelPo in 4.
Theim in 4
Del Potro in 3
Thiem in 4; and Knov with the upset…in 4…..and how about a WOW for both Tpas & Wka….great tennis!
More on the press room saga:
https://video.eurosport.com/tennis/french-open/2019/french-open-2019-dominic-thiem-hits-out-at-serena-williams-after-press-conference-row_vid1205460/video.shtml
I did read that Serena had wanted to get her presser done asap, but she did NOT want to displace Thiem and asked for a “smaller room”. It was some tournament official that made the call so Thiem should be angry with them. Otoh, I don’t know, and it probably would never arise, but I think Rafa would have been happy to yield the room to her under the circs.
Del Po and Thiem in 5. I expect some barn-burners tomorrow!! Absolutely amazing schedule and that’s without Rafa or Roger playing!!
Thiem and Delpo both in four sets.
Thiem has not been playing his best since his win in Barcelona but Monfils has so I’ll go with him in 4 or 5, based on his home field advantage.
DelPo in 4 Hope his knee continues to hold up.
Thiem in five,Delpo in four tight.
After sleeping through the first set, Monfils has finally woken up and is playing well now in the second set. I think he’ll make a match of it from now on.
Lucky, U thought wrong! I realised from the first service game that Monfils was a no show!
Ge just clams up when he is playing in front of his home crowd! It’s really unfortunate!
No French men into the quarters! And women!
At least Paire took Kei to 5 sets!!! Served for the set And had match points!!
Yeah, Monfils still a no show after the first set and lost easily in straight sets, what a shame. I feel he could do better than that. Congrats to Thiem for the win, he’s such a sweet guy.
Of the four men’s matches played so far, I think I enjoyed the Kei/Paire match the best though it’s such an erratic match and it’s until the last point then I knew who’s the winner.
I didn’t watch the Djoko match after set one so didn’t know how good he was or how bad Struff was! The Thiem/Monfils match was quite anticlimactic, was expecting Monfils to do better than that.
The Foggy/Sasha match that I’m watching now (as it’s ongoing), I’m hoping and willing for Sasha to win this. Foggy is too erratic and could lose from a winning position. I think Sasha could at least go all out to fight against Djoko in the QF regardless of how badly he may play. Foggy is too friendly with Djoko, and will continue with his erratic play and loses in straight sets to Djoko in the QF. Foggy is 0-8 vs Djoko so he would be easy meat for Djoko.
Jeez what’s up with Delpo?! Last time I looked he had so many break chances in the first and now he’s in trouble!
Very very big trouble?!!!! Cant see him coming back from that!!!
No, doesn’t look like it. He is really out of sorts today😢😢
Had a sneaking suspician this was going to happen when I looked at their results earlier. Khachanov’s results are strong coming into this match, very strong.
Khachanov is making a habit of peaking at the right time for RG. Delpo gets motivated for various reasons. It’s possible that this encounter doesnt inspire him much and he doesnt havent many fans at RG to push him along like in the US or SA.
Come on Delpo!! He looks very out of sorts right now..😢
Even his forehand is misfiring!
Delpo breaks!!!
And gets broken!😢😢😢
And gets broken right back!! Sigh!
Khachanov is beating Delpo at his own game and exposing his one-dimensionality.
Lol!! Didn’t see this in the cards! Suppose there is always a dark horse in every tourney!
Delpo is now motivated by the comeback and pleasing the crowd because thats what they want. He’s a crowd pleaser.
As soon as they start chanting ‘Delpo, Delpo’ this match is as good as over. Delpo wins in 5.
Khachanov has better ideas!!! And the crowd seems to be on his side!!
Delpo forehand in the groove now!☺
He should have won the first set!