An air of renewal will hover this Tuesday Porte d’Auteuil. For both women and men, the first quarter-finals of the 2021 edition of Roland-Garros will honor young players. Here is the program.
Two quarters for the ladies
The day will begin with two duels at the bottom of the women’s table. Paula Badosa (35th) and Tamara Zidansek (85th) will be the first to enter the competition, two novices at this level in a Grand Slam. Badosa, who had to save a match point in the third round against Ana Bogdan, is one of the players in form this season on clay. Victorious in Belgrade a fortnight ago, semi-finalist in Madrid, she has since the start of the year 17 wins on ocher, more than any other player on the circuit.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (32nd) who defeated former world number one Victoria Azarenka (16th today) on Sunday, will then face Elena Rybakina. The Kazakhe had, on Sunday, swept the veteran Serena Williams in straight sets.
A sign of the total unknown in which women’s tennis is immersed, Pavlyuchenkova will be the only player of the day this Tuesday to have already played a quarter-final in a Major.
Medvedev – Tsitsipas
This is the first big shock of the tournament. The two headliners of the “NextGen” face to face. The 2nd ATP player against the 5th. Daniil Medvedev, finally thriving on clay after four losses in the first round and new darling of the public, will try to qualify for the first time for last four from 9 pm.
He will have to take out Stefanos Tsitsipas, the most prominent man on this surface this season behind Rafael Nadal. The 22-year-old Greek won his first Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo in mid-April, and came close to beating the King of Mallorca and Novak Djokovic in the spring.
Zverev – Davidovich Fokina
The name of Alexander Zverev, 6th in the world, is a little less mentioned among the contenders for the title. Yet he has achieved an impressive career so far. After a complicated start, in 5 sets against the qualifier Oscar Otte, the German did not let a round slip away. Facing Nishikori in a night session on Sunday, he qualified without a hitch (6-4, 6-1, 6-1) for his third quarter-final in six appearances in Paris. He won the Madrid Masters 1,000 in May after beating Nadal and Thiem.
He will face the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (46th), who has reached this stage of Grand Slam competition for the first time. Author of a dantesque game in the 3rd round against Casper Ruud, he is the revelation of this tournament. As unpredictable as he is brilliant, he’s been progressing steadily since his debut on the circuit and entering the top 100 in 2019.
The program of the day
Court Philippe-Chatrier. From noon : Zidansek (SLO) – Badosa (ESP); Rybakina (n ° 21) (KAZ) – Pavlyuchenkova (n ° 31) (RUS). Not before 4 p.m.: Zverev (n° 6) (ALL) – Davidovich Fokina (ESP). From 9 p.m.: Tsitsipas (n ° 5) (GRE) – Medvedev (n ° 2) (RUS).
Court Suzanne-Lenglen. At the very beginning of the afternoon (men’s doubles quarter-final): Herbert / Mahut (FRA) – Brkic (BOS) / Cacic (SER).
