We take a look at the selected quarter-final matches from the ATP Tour’s French Open taking place on Wednesday 5 June 2019.
ATP Tour 2019 | French Open
Roland Garros, Paris, France (Outdoor Clay)
Selected Quarter-Finals – 5 June 2019
Dominic Thiem (1/4)
vs Karen Khachanov (26/10)
Dominic Thiem managed to brush off ‘Interview-Gate’ with an imperious demolition of hometown favourite Gael Monfils. The ease of that victory underlined his status as the potential Rafel Nadal usurper. Last year’s beaten finalist has found himself embroiled in the later stages of events far more consistently this year. His titles in Barcelona and Indian Wells reflect an all-court consistency that has put him on the precipice of a Grand Slam breakthrough. His victory over Rafael Nadal in Barcelona made him the only man in the open era to hold four clay-court victories over Nadal. It hasn’t all been plain sailing for the Austrian. He needed four sets in his opening three matches. But the pride of Austria seems to be hitting his straps at just the right time this year.
Karen Khachanov’s bruising four-set victory over Juan Martin Del Potro in the fourth round made him the first Russian to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final since Mikhail Youzhny in 2010. The 23-year-old is very much of the same taciturn Eastern European stock as Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. He has actually endured a fairly torrid season up until now. He reached the third round in Melbourne prior to going on a four-match losing streak. He reached the quarter-finals at Indian Wells prior to a five-match run of defeats. It’s fair to say that the baseliner from Russia has failed to fulfil the potential he showed following that epic Paris Masters title: that victory in Paris saw him record victories over epic names such as Djokovic, Zverev and Thiem. Khachanov is really built for the hard-courts but has shown potential at Roland Garros before: he lost to Alex Zverev in an epic five-set 4th round match last year. He has already ensured his first trip into the top 10 rankings and will see this as a free hit.
Clearly, Thiem will be entering this match as the overwhelming favourite on a court he so loves. It is actually the Russian with the superior head-to-head record after that terrific victory at last year’s Paris Masters. But Thiem is a clay-court maestro and should get the job done. There’s just some lingering doubt in my mind about this one. Khachanov’s victory over Del Potro comprised 57 winners. Should Khachanov get going I would suspect that there may be real value in backing the Russian here at this price.
Novak Djokovic (1/7)
vs Alex Zverev (17/4)
Serbian great, Novak Djokovic, made a subtle piece of history in his resounding fourth-round victory. He became the first man to reach ten successive French Open quarter-finals. Clearly, that statistic overlooks the dominance of Rafael Nadal, but it certainly accentuates the remarkable consistency of Djokovic over the past decade. The 2016 French Open Champion is looking to join Rod Laver as the only other man to hold all slams simultaneously on two different occasions. His clay-court form has been impressive with that title in Madrid followed by a Rome Final appearance. He will be doubly keen to exorcise the demons of that shock quarter-final loss to Cecchinato last year. The Serbian has enjoyed a routine draw thus far but is still yet to drop a set. It will take something special from perennial underachiever Alex Zverev to stop the Djokovic express this week.
Nothing seems to come easy for Alex Zverev. The German needed to plunder all of his resources to overcome a dogged Fabio Fognini in the last round. It was yet another gruelling encounter for the notoriously fickle Zverev. But nonetheless, he has now made it to his second consecutive French quarter-final and will be desperate to prove his healthy pool of critics wrong this week. He has enjoyed a really poor clay-court season that was somewhat salvaged by a victory in the under-power Geneva Open. Zverev will forever be marooned with the tag of underachiever should he persistently fail to make deep runs in majors. You can’t question his physicality thus far this year, but one has to wonder just how much these epic five-set encounters will have affected him.
Their head-to-head record actually makes for some interesting reading. They share the spoils at two wins apiece, with two notable scalps for Zverev. He beat Djokovic to win last year’s season-ending ATP finals and also defeated Djokovic in the 2017 Rome final. That was their only ever meeting on clay. But it’s fair to say that Djokovic was in a period of transition during that time. Djokovic’s serene path thus far means he will be by far the fresher player. I think a Djokovic win by three sets to one at 47/20 looks most appealing. Zverev’s desperation to debunk his image as a fraudulent pretender to the crown should see him bag one set. I just can’t get on board a straight sets Djokovic victory at 9/10.
