The anticipated Alexander Zverev vs. Dominic Thiem quarterfinal showdown has come to fruition at the French Open. In the other section of the draw’s bottom half, Novak Djokovic has a more surprising opponent on his hands in the form of Marco Cecchinato.
(7) Dominic Thiem vs. (2) Alexander Zverev
Zverev and Thiem will be facing each other for the sixth time in their careers and for the second time during this clay-court swing when they battle for a spot in the French Open semifinals on Tuesday. Thiem leads the head-to-head series 4-2, but Zverev has won two of their last three meetings after most recently triumphing 6-4, 6-4 in the Madrid final. Thiem is still in front 3-1 on clay, having prevailed three times in 2016–including via a 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 decision at Roland Garros.
Just 19 years old when they first squared off in Paris, Zverev is now one of the undisputed best players in the world and certainly one of the most capable on clay. In fact, this a matchup between arguably the second-best clay-courters on tour behind Rafael Nadal. Zverev is an amazing 21-3 on the red stuff in 2018 (21-1 against opponents other than Nadal) with titles in Munich and Madrid plus a runner-up finish in Rome. Thiem also owns a pair of titles this season, having won in Buenos Aires four months ago before lifting the trophy a little more than a week ago in Nice. The latter gave the eighth-ranked Austrian plenty of momentum going into Roland Garros, where he has defeated Ilya Ivashka, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini, and Kei Nishikori in mostly convincing fashion. Already a two-time French Open semifinalist, Thiem enjoys the Paris conditions much more than those of Madrid and he is playing well enough to take advantage of an opponent who may wear down in another competitive contest having already played 18 sets during this event.
Pick: Thiem in 5
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Marco Cecchinato vs. (20) Novak Djokovic
While Nadal is making mincemeat out of a weaker top half of the bracket, Djokovic’s draw has worked out nicely for him on the other side. The 22nd-ranked Serb has not run into anyone inside the top 12 of the rankings and that will continue through the quarterfinals, in which he has a surprising date with Cecchinato on Tuesday. Having recovered from an elbow injury and with his old team back in place, Djokovic finally heated up for the first time in 2018 by reaching the Rome semis and testing Nadal in a tight two-setter. The former world No. 1 has cruised for the most part in Paris, taking out Rogerio Dutra Silva, Jaume Munar, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Fernando Verdasco.
Cecchinato’s run is nothing short of shocking, as the 72nd-ranked Italian had never won a main-draw match at any Grand Slam in his entire career prior to this fortnight. In fact, he was a mere 12-32 lifetime at the main-tour level heading into the French Open. From completely out of nowhere, Cecchinato earned an improbable place in the quarters by beating Marius Copil (10-8 in the fifth set), lucky loser Marco Trungelliti, No. 10 seed Pablo Carreno Busta, and eighth-seeded David Goffin. The 25-year-old has at least been relevant on clay over the past couple of seasons, but even on this surface it will be tough for him to handle the enormity of the occasion against an opponent who is recapturing his world-class form.
Pick: Djokovic in 3
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Yes I really miss vr!!
And yes the bettors are the lowest of the low with their laughable machismo!!
The reply was for nny above!
Nole can’t hit the bhdtl today. Don’t know if he can win without it…He can’t just keep hitting cross court..
Bring on Theim next!
Unbelievable play by the Italian! I am impressed! I did not see this coming! I still think Novak will win this just will have to do it hard way…
The Italian outplayed Novak in the TB. Now let’s see if he can finish it off. Novak is in a big hole here.
Saves 3 BPs. That’s big.
A very big hole! Hope he can turn this around though, As a Rafa fan, hate to see the top players struggle like this!
He has a break so lets c what happens from here
Just got home and tuned in to the Novak match in time to see the 2nd set tiebreak. Amy mentions above ND is obviously hurt. In what way apart – from the regular brain freezes? From what I’ve seen so far it will come down to who can hold their nerve and commit the least number of stupid errors.
Novak had treatment for a neck issue in the first set.
Cecchinatp has hit the wall.
Didn’t get to see the Thiem-Zverev match but from the scoreline the Slam jinx still has a hold over Sascha.
Zverev had a thigh injury. All those five setters caught up with him.
Cechinatto is capitulating for no reason. Crazy Italian lol
Djoko running with this now
God knows if Thiem will be able to stop Djokovic
Looks to me that this Italian guy is tanking the match. I don’t believe he’s so unfit after only two hours of tennis! He’s much younger than Djoko!
Thiem would beat this Djoko, judging by how Thiem and Djoko played. Thiem won’t allow a two sets lead go away to lose the match, unlike this Italian. Djoko isn’t impressive so far, it’s this Italian making him look good, after the first two sets.
The weird Italian seems to have lost the faith! Too bad he could have made a match of this! This way he is fading for no obvious reason…Novak is still not doing anything special…
Nole is gonna lose now!
Not a chance if he plays the way he has today. The Italian’s level dropped significantly in set 3 and the former No.1 had the experience to profit when his opponent buckled. He won’t have that luxury against Thiem.!!!!
I like the way the crowd are giving encouragement to the underdog.
I think Marco suffered from losing his grip on the match at the beginning of the 3rd set, then he got upset for a code violation for something after losing the set and he just lost control of his game.
I think Djoko is slowly getting there considering where he was at the beginning of the claycourt season.
This match is ugly. The first two sets Djoko played so poorly and it’s only in the second set TB that it’s more competitive. In the third and fourth sets the Italian played/plays so poorly like he’s tanking, and it’s only nearing the end of the fourth set then things get more competitive.
Really disappointing QF matches today.
The Italian guy doesn’t even know how to move his legs to move closer to the baseline, really not very smart player.
See, drop shot and hitting it at the wrong place! When will he have a second chance of a MP? He’s letting Djoko back into the match!
What a miss at match point!