Novak Djokovic has displayed some encouraging signs through two rounds of the French Open and he will be back on the court for a Friday showdown against Roberto Bautista Agut. Lucas Pouille and Karen Khachanov are also in action.
Karen Khachanov vs. (2) Alexander Zverev
Zverev has been playing with fire at the French Open as he tries to erase the demons of past Grand Slam failures. The No. 2 seed was one set away from bowing out in the second round and he was one point away losing in the third round, but he ended up beating Dusan Lajovic 2-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 before surviving Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-5. Zverev, who is 20-3 on clay this season and 20-1 against opponents other than Rafael Nadal, preceded those victories with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 beatdown of Ricardas Berankis.
Up next for the 21-year-old German on Sunday is a second career meeting with Khachanov, who lost their only previous encounter 7-6(3), 6-4 on the indoor hard courts of St. Petersburg in 2016. The 22-year-old Russian has also made plenty of strides since then, owning two ATP titles (including earlier this season in Marseille) and a ranking of No. 38 in the world that left him just one spot out of seed at Roland Garros. Khachanov booked his spot in the fourth round for a second consecutive year by defeating Andreas Haider-Maurer, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and Lucas Pouille, surrendering just one set to Garcia-Lopez (in a tiebreaker) along the way. However, the underdog has never beaten anyone in the top eight in his entire career and Zverev should start playing looser now that he has persevered through two early-round scares.
Pick: Zverev in 4
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(8) David Goffin vs. Marco Cecchinato
As expected, the Goffin vs. Gael Monfils third-round showdown did not disappoint. Goffin fought off four match points in the fourth set before eventually prevailing 6-7(6), 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in a three-hour and 58-minute battle that spanned both Friday and Saturday. That was the world No. 9’s second five-setter of this tournament, as he recovered from two sets down to beat Robin Haase in his opener prior to much more straightforward 7-5, 6-0, 6-1 rout of French wild card Corentin Moutet.
Goffin’s reward for his survival thus far is an especially good one, and not just because he is into the second week at Roland Garros for the third time in his career. Standing in his way of a second quarterfinal berth is the unheralded Cecchinato, who had never previously won a single match at a major. It is all coming together for the 72nd-ranked Italian this fortnight, thanks to a favorable draw that includes victories over Marius Copil (10-8 in the fifth set), lucky loser Marco Trungelliti, and Pablo Carreno Busta. Cecchinato may be encouraged by a recent 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 loss to Goffin in their first-ever meeting a few weeks ago in Rome, but it is the Belgian who basically has home-court advantage this time around. Far more experience at this stage of big tournaments should also help Goffin soar into the quarterfinals with relative ease.
Pick: Goffin in 3
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Wow Sascha going to win again in 5 no doubt. He has a lot of guts, the young Russian just couldn’t pull it out but one heck of an effort.
Wow KK had a chance to get it back to 5-5 and blew it. Cost me $200. The German has this match for sure now.
Agreed but remember the match is not over till the fat lady sings 😉
told you to pick Zverev
This half of the draw, everyone has to work so hard to win. Rafa’s half of the draw – the seeded players got past their draw quite easily – almost everyone won in straight sets except Anderson who needed four sets.
Oh and except Foggy of course who needed five sets!
Kei has improved since he looked like he had a wrist problem.
Karen threw away his chances. One point can turn a tennis match that’s why there is no room for loss of concentration.
Exactly. Now Sasha is outlasting him and outlasting all three of his opponents. I hope Thiem sends him packing: if Thiem can’t beat a Sasha who can only win by outlasting his opponent, then I feel he’s hopeless at the slams.
Thiem is massively overated. Lost to Tennys Sandgren at the AO.
different surface. not relevant.
3 five setters..good job zverev to reach your first qf…
Thiem zverev popcorn qf…I give thiem the slight edge there..thiem was good today but last set some shocking errors very close to finish line.
Hope goffin makes it too…then Tuesday will be blockbuster
It’s a blockbuster without Goffin. Cechinatto is a class above Goffin.
I don’t know that Zverev playing these five setters means that he can’t beat Thiem. It can work in one of two ways. Zverev might well hit a wall and be too exhausted to beat Thiem. However, he may end up match tough and feel that he can’t lose. Sometimes when you have a tough road it actually helps you. Zverev seems to have put on some muscle abs has worked on his fitness.
Thiem is a two time semi finalist here. He cannot be dismissed. But overall I don’t think he is playing as well as he did last year. He does have the experience of going deep in this slam. That helps him. But I am not going to assume that Zverev will not have anything left.
Jez Green (Andy Murray’s former fitness coach) recently joined Zverev’s camp.
http://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Tennis_Interviews/31284/jez-green-confesses-how-he-can-bring-alexander-zverev-to-top-fitness-level/
recently?
he’s been in Zverev’s camp for years
Thanks. Didn’t realise it was that long a time.
Goffin got spanked. Was lucky to win the 2nd set.
Another seed bites the dust. Goffin put out by Ceccinato.
maybe goffin was anyways physically compromised n would have brought nothing for djoko match..maybe italian will play a bit
Not sure why Zverev can’t play in slams like he does in masters, but he’s getting the job done. Watch him keep going in this draw, I think. He’s much stronger than he was even a year ago.
Classic French athlete