On Tuesday, we get to see the first two women’s quarterfinal matches at the French Open. Can Elina Svitolina’s fairy tale comeback continue? Is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova back to her top form? As always, our writers share their thoughts on the matches. Predicting Tuesday’s matches are Damian Kust, Jack Edward, and Andreas Pelekis. Who do you think will win?
French Open Women’s Quarterfinal Predictions
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Karolina Muchova
Damian:
Muchova was a popular dark horse contender and found herself in a great section despite the opening round against Sakkari, but Pavlyuchenkova making it this deep is a lot more surprising. However, the Russian made the final here two years ago and suddenly found that form again. She’s coming off some long matches though and Muchova has the wide skillset to diffuse her power, which gives her a bit of an edge.
Prediction: Muchova in 3
Jack:
I don’t want to throw shade on Karolina Muchova’s achievement so far but she seemed the clear pick to progress to the quarterfinals when the draw was first released. She came through her previous four rounds including Sakkari and Begu relatively unperturbed—now that she’s here, she has a real test in the 2021 French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The Russian’s level is as high as it’s ever been and she likely has the potential to dictate the outcome of this one. Muchova is a fantastic player with the variety to keep things incredibly close but, in these conditions, there is a power disparity that has me leaning towards Pavlyuchenkova’s game.
Prediction: Pavlyuchenkova in 3
Andreas:
This is an intriguing matchup featuring variety against power. Both players are certainly playing like seeds despite their ranking, and they’ve been deep in majors before. Giving the edge to Muchova, who’s played more tennis recently and will be able to neutralize pace from her opponent. This could be a close three-setter.
Prediction: Muchova in 3
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Aryna Sabalenka vs Elina Svitolina
Damian:
Despite going 5-0 up in the opening set, Sabalenka eventually struggled with Stephens and looked really tense. She’s going to play another counter-puncher now, but one that plays a bit more conventional and should be a more comfortable rival for her. What a run it’s been for Svitolina, especially so early in her comeback. I just don’t think she puts enough pressure on the Belarusian to prevail here.
Prediction: Sabalenka in 2
Jack:
Let’s not underrate Elina Svitolina here. Her best level is worthy of the top five and she seems to have rocketed back to something close to that level in the blink of an eye. This should be Aryna Sabalenka’s toughest challenge at Roland Garros so far, however the Australian Open champion hasn’t given us many reasons to doubt her ability to hold her own. She was particularly impressive in steadying the ship after leading Stephens 5-0 in their first set. With Svitolina looking plenty formidable, I think Sabalenka should stand up to the test of having to kick her level up a notch.
Prediction: Sabalenka in 3
Andreas:
While this match is certainly important being a quarterfinal, geo-political drama and controversy certainly surrounds this showdown. Svitolina will have a lot of grit and surely wants to make another Grand Slam semifinal. However, Sabalenka simply has too many weapons. While the Belarusian makes too many unforced errors against counterpunchers (as she did against Stephens), she should be able to get through Svitolina with her power game.
Prediction: Sabalenka in 2
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
