Quarterfinals' order of play 📌 Ready steady watch 👀 #RolandGarros
It is the first day of Quarter-Final action at the 2023 French Open with four ties on Court Philippe Chatrier meaning less drama surrounding who will play in the Night Session going forward.
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will take Centre Stage in the latter two ties facing Karen Khachanov and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
While WTA wise, it is Karolina Muchova v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elina Svitolina facing Aryna Sabalenka. This is the schedule and preview of Day 10.
First up on Chatrier sees Muchova face Pavlyuchenkova. The Czech so far has navigated through her business under the radar seeing off Maria Sakkari again.
As well as Nadia Podoroska, Irina Begu and finally Elina Avanesyan, the surprise package from Russia and now it will be another Russian awaiting her in the form of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, former finalist in Paris.
Both have been building themselves back up again after injury and for one, a semi-final spot will await as a result.
For Muchova that was more expected given multiple runs this year albeit mostly in Hard Court tournaments. While Pavlyuchenkova ranked 333 at the start of the tournament has only just returned after being on and off the court since reaching the final in 2021.
She lost in the second round in Rome and then has played in Paris seeing off Linda Fruhvirtova, Liudmila Samsonova, Anastasia Potapova, Elise Mertens on her run through. Can she again recapture her 2021 brilliance?
Another player recapturing her brilliance and perhaps has been the comeback story of the year is Elina Svitolina with the recent first time mother defying expectations in her return.
After a shaky start during ITF and WTA 125k tournaments as expected, she went to Strasbourg and won the title and since then has shown some of her best form in a long time.
So far defeating Martina Trevisan, Storm Sanders, Anna Blinkova and finally Daria Kasatkina, next up is the second favourite for the title in Aryna Sabalenka.
This match will be interesting for many reasons and not just the crowd. During Sabalenka's opener, they booed Marta Kostyuk for not shaking hands.
While Daria Kasatkina despite her stance on the war and being respected by Elina Svitolina both on and off the court despite no handshake was also booed.
There is also the elephant in the room for Sabalenka who was asked about her support for President Lukashenko and following that skipped the next two press conferences due to not feeling safe and her mental health and wellbeing.
So it is a clash also dominated by off the court matters. In terms of head to head, Svitolina won their last meeting out of two overall in 2020 but both of course are different players and have different circumstances since.
Then it is the turn of the ATP players as Novak Djokovic takes on Karen Khachanov. It is firmly on the side of Djokovic going into the tie with a potential mouth watering clash between Alcaraz and Djokovic likely to be set.
Djokovic is looking for his record-breaking 23rd men's Grand Slam title and only his third overall in Paris.
In Khachanov, the odds aren't stacked in his favour despite a superb season so far. The Russian has only beaten him once in nine meetings nearly five years ago in 2018.
Then it is the turn of Alcaraz to take to the court in a highly anticipated clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas who is the fifth seed.
Tsitsipas, a runner-up in 2021 has had a fairly simple route through so far seeing off Jiri Vesely, Roberto Carballes Baena, Diego Schwartzman and Sebastian Ofner.
While Alcaraz has felt unbeatable seeing off Flavio Cobolli, Taro Daniel, Denis Shapovalov and Lorenzo Musetti last up.
Head to head wise, it also ranks in Alcaraz' favour and he sits at 4-0 and with the Spaniard's meteoric rise, all ties have come in the past two years.
Two of which on clay including a comprehensive 6-3, 6-4 to Alcaraz recently in Barcelona.
Tuesday, June 06, 2023 | ||||
Day 16 | ||||
Court Philippe Chatrier Starts At 10:00 AM | ||||
QF | Karolina Muchova | VS | Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova | |
QF | Elina Svitolina | VS | Aryna Sabalenka | |
QF | Novak Djokovic | VS | Karen Khachanov | |
QF | Carlos Alcaraz | VS | Stefanos Tsitsipas |
Quarterfinals' order of play 📌 Ready steady watch 👀 #RolandGarros