Ricky’s Picks For The French Open Quarterfinals: Djokovic vs. Zverev and Thiem vs. Khachanov

Alexander Zverev of Germany plays Fabio Fognini of Italy during their men’s round of 16 match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 03 June 2019. EPA-EFE/YOAN VALAT

 

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

Weather permitting, the rest of the French Open semifinal lineup will be set on Wednesday. Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer is already assured. Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, and Karen Khachanov are hoping to join them in the last four.

 

Ricky previews the action and makes his predictions.

 

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (5) Alexander Zverev

It will be a rematch of the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals championship match when Djokovic and Zverev square off again. Zverev pulled off a surprising 6-4, 6-3 upset at the O2 Arena for the most important title of his career, evening up the head-to-head series at 2-2. It was 1-1 heading into London and 2-2 going out, as Djokovic had previously prevailed 6-4, 6-1 during round-robin competition. They have met once on clay, with Zverev emerging victorious–also 6-4, 6-3–at the 2017 Rome Masters.

The 22-year-old German has already equaled his best-ever slam result (he also reached the last eight at RG in 2018) with victories over John Millman, Mikael Ymer, Dusan Lajovic, and Fabio Fognini. Zverev needed five sets against both Millman and Lajovic while getting the best of Ymer in straights and Fognini in four. Djokovic has not come close to surrendering a set, thrashing Hubert Hurkacz, Henri Laaksonen, Salvatore Caruso, and Jan-Lennard Struff.

Pick: Djokovic in 3

 

(10) Karen Khachanov vs. (4) Dominic Thiem

Thiem and Khachanov will be facing each other for the second time in their careers on Wednesday. Their only previous encounter came last fall, also in Paris–albeit in a much different setting. On the indoor hard courts of the Paris Masters, Khachanov won 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals en route to the biggest title of his career. Now, of course, Thiem owns a huge surface advantage on clay. The 2018 FO runner-up is the reigning Barcelona champion and he is bidding for his fourth consecutive trip to the French semis. So far this fortnight Thiem has defeated Tommy Paul, Alexander Bublik, Pablo Cuevas, and Gael Monfils, raising his level significantly to make 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 mincemeat out of Monfils on Monday.

Nothing suggested Khachanov would advance this far aside from the fact that he is quite clearly a force anywhere in Paris. The 11th-ranked Russian is 10-2 lifetime at RG, with two consecutive fourth-round results preceding what is now his first-ever trip to a major quarterfinal. He accomplished the feat with defeats of Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, Gregoire Barrerre, Martin Klizan, and Juan Martin Del Potro. Khachanov may be almost back to his 2018 form, but a big edge in experience deep in slams–especially at the French Open–goes to Thiem.

Pick: Thiem in 4

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.