We take a look at the Selected Quarterfinals from the French Open taking place at Stade Roland Garros, Paris, France (Outdoor Clay).
Photo Copyright – Steve Haag Sports
Stade Roland Garros, Paris, France (Outdoor Clay)
French Open
Selected Quarterfinals- 7th October
Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) (13/20) vs Andrey Rublev (13) (12/10)
Stefanos Tsitsipas is perhaps the most frustrating players to back with any certainty. His rise on the tour throughout the last few years has been meteoric- though Grand Slam success has generally eluded him. His best Grand Slam result came with his semi-final run at last year’s Aussie Open. The Greek has shown his acumen for clay-court tennis on many occasions. He burst onto the scene with an unheralded run to the 2018 Barcelona Final: he would go on to reach the Masters 1000 final in Madrid the following year. But his 2019 season seemed to be heading towards relative ignominy until a surprise victory at the ATP World Tour Finals. 2020 has been just as schizophrenic. This is the first time he has surpassed the 3rd round of a Slam in 2020. But yet he has still appeared in three finals this year. That included a run to the German Open Final in preparation for this (more on that later). Tsitsipas was trailing by two set in his opening match here against Munar. But he rallied and has yet to drop a set since, absolutely dominating Grigor Dimitrov in the last round. He is 10-2 on clay this year and will take some beating.
Andrey Rublev is a serious guy. Sam Querrey confirmed as much, saying that the Russian gave his seven-month-old son a death scare after he gave an audible ‘waaah’ (as babies do). But that’s how seriously Rublev takes this game. He showed a lot of tenacity to come back from a set down against the hard-working Marton Fucsovics. Rublev started the year with those back-to-back victories in Qatar and Adelaide. Since then he has shown tremendous consistency- reaching the quarterfinal of the US Open at Flushing Meadows. But it was his victory in Hamburg that really impressed. It was his 2nd clay-court title after the 2017 Umag Open. But it dispelled the notion that Rublev is purely a hard-court pugilist. His victory in Hamburg cemented his status as a solid all-court professional. His run in Paris has not been without its issues (he needed five sets to overcome American stalwart Sam Querrey). But Rublev has grown into the event and looks primed for his first potential appearance in a Grand Slam semi-final.
These two know each other all too well. The Russian actually leads the Greek 3-2. This includes that recent victory on the clay in the Hamburg Final. I really think that all the pressure will be on Tsitsipas. If Rublev is able to dominate with his serve, I think he could progress.
Novak Djokovic (1) (1/14) vs Pablo Carreno Busta (7/1)
If you take away Djokovic’s unfortunate moment of petulance in New York, his 2020-win loss rate would read 29-0. Even Nick Kyrgios- Djokovic’s mortal enemy- has conceded that Djokovic may not lose a match this year. Obviously, this was always going to be the greatest test for the Serb, with a certain Spanish bulldog standing in the way of a 2nd Roland Garros title. But all he can do is beat who is put in front of him. He is yet to drop a set in this year’s event (though his straight-sets victory over Karen Khachanov was perhaps slightly tougher than the score-line suggests). He seems to have adjusted effortlessly to the slightly slower balls. It probably suits his relentless, Energizer Bunny approach. It’s just harder for opponents to hit those really flat winners that are required against the likes of Djokovic and Nadal.
Pablo Carreno Busta’s record for the year now stands at 16-8. His victories over Roberto Bautista Agut and Altmaier have helped the nominal hard-court specialist reach his 2nd Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros. Remember, this is also a man who has reached a Grand Slam semi-final this year. He will no doubt become great Quiz Night fodder: ‘Who was Djokovic’s opponent when he was disqualified from the 2020 US Open?’. But the 4-time winner will be hoping that this crazy season could disrupt the natural flow of things. I was certain that Bautista Agut would defeat Carreno Busta in the 3rd round, eventually setting up a tasty quarterfinal against Djokovic (Bautista Agut is one man who can consistently defeated the Serb in recent times). Carreno Busta has only dropped one set thus far and will leave everything out there to make it back-to-back Grand Slam semi-finals.
Djokovic leads the head-to-head 3-1 (though that one victory was obviously the walkover win from Flushing Meadows). Carreno Busta did push Djokovic to three sets in the Monte Carlo Masters. But this is just a no-brainer. Djokovic to win in straight sets at 4/7. Carreno Busta is solid enough but he is unfortunately a Diet-Coke version of Djokovic.
