After witnessing some scintillating encounters during the first week and a half of the ongoing 2021 French Open, we have special quarterfinal matches on the cards.
On the women’s draw, there has been a host of surprises with the top seven seeds bowing out before the quarterfinals. On the other hand, except for Dominic Thiem’s first-round loss and Roger Federer’s withdrawal after his pre-quarterfinal clash, the results have progressed as expected on the men’s field.
On Day 11 of the French Open, the players would slug it out for a place in the semifinals. In the first match on Court Philip Chatrier, the No.24 seed Coco Gauff would be up against Barbora Krejcikova.
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Coco Gauff vs. Barbora Krejcikova
The 17-year-old Gauff enters the match on a domineering fourth-round performance, a match she won in just 53 mins. On the other side, Krejcikova appears in imperious form as she bagel’d the former US Open champion Sloane Stephens to reach the last eight.
Interestingly, both players would feature in their first-ever Grand Slam singles quarterfinals. Also, it would the first time the two WTA stars would face each other.
Prediction: Coco Gauff to win in three sets
Iga Swiatek vs. Maria Sakkari
The defending champion, Iga Swiatek, hasn’t lost a set en route to the quarterfinals and has been grinding down her opponents from the back of the court.
The Greek, Maria Sakkari, has ousted last year’s finalist Sofia Kenin and Elise Mertens to reach her first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal. The duo’s quarterfinal match-up has all the elements to produce fireworks as they would face-off for the first time in their careers.
Prediction: Iga Swiatek to win in three sets
Rafael Nadal vs. Diego Schwartzman
Thirteen-time champion,
Rafael Nadal, is just three victories away from a record-extending 14th French Open title. The Spaniard is yet to lose a set in the tournament and his splendid performance against Jannick Sinner in the fourth rounds spells an ominous sign for Diego Schwartzman.Out of their 11 matches, Schwartzman has just won once against Nadal. In fact, the duo also battled each other in the semifinal of last year’s French Open, a match Nadal won comfortably.
Prediction: Rafael Nadal to win in straight setsNovak Djokovic vs. Matteo Berrettini
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The 18-time Grand Slam champion, Novak Djokovic, warded off an enormous scare in his fourth-round match. Down two sets to love against Lorenzo Musetti, Djokovic waged a heroic comeback to push the match into the decider before his opponent withdrew.
In contrast, the No.9 seed Matteo Berrettini had an easy ride as he received a walkover because of Federer withdrawing before their clash. Speaking of their head-to-head meetings, the duo has faced off just once with Djokovic having a 1-0 lead.
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Prediction: Novak Djokovic to win in straight sets
Get ready to watch some intriguing matches leading up to the penultimate stage. If the predictions come true, we would have Nadal batting against Djokovic for a record 58th time.