Day 10: Things to look out for

Day 10 at Roland-Garros will also see plenty of activity on the outside courts, including second-round action from the junior tournament and quarter-final clashes in the men’s and women’s doubles.  

Here’s what to look out for on the Parisian clay on Tuesday...

Sinner’s mountain to climb

Nineteen-year-old Jannik Sinner was one of Italy’s most promising junior skiers between the ages of 8 and 12. The world No.75 particularly excelled in the slalom event.

Six years after he decided to swap his skis for a tennis racquet, Sinner needs all his navigational skills to overcome the biggest mountain in tennis: playing defending champion Nadal on Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland-Garros.

Since he first played in Paris at the age of 19, Nadal has dominated Roland-Garros, winning an astonishing 12 titles and losing only twice.

“It's not the easiest thing, for sure,” said Sinner, the first man to reach the last eight in Paris on his debut since Nadal in 2005. “The record he has here, nobody can beat that. He is super confident here. So it's going to be a difficult match for sure.”

Nadal, who has looked in ominous form in the first week, is expecting a tough match.

“He's young, he's improving every single week,” said the 34-year-old Spaniard, after he brushed aside another newcomer, 20-year-old Sebastian Korda of the US, in his previous round.

“So he's playing better and better and better. It will be a big challenge. It will be the first time playing against him on the tour. I practice with him a couple of times, he has an amazing potential, he move the hand very quick and he's able to produce amazing shots. I need to play my best against any opponent.”

Eye on the first-timers

The women’s tournament at Roland-Garros has always had its fair share of surprises. But perhaps never more so than this year, with none of the quarter-finalists of last month’s US Open reaching the same stage in Paris.

Three of the four women in today’s quarter-final matches have reached this stage in only their first appearance at Roland-Garros, while Elina Svitolina is back in the last eight for the third time.

The third-seeded Ukrainian, the highest-ranked women left in the draw, plays the 131st-ranked qualifier Nadia Podoroska of Argentina for a spot in her first semi-final.

Podoroska has been on a roll, winning 21 matches since tennis resumed following a five-month shutdown in August.

“I have to do my research,” said Svitolina, after telling reporters she didn’t know much about her opponent. “My coach is going to give me lots of information going into this match. But for sure if she went that far, she has a good game.”

The other women’s showdown on the schedule between Iga Swiatek and Martina Trevisan pits two Grand Slam quarter-final debutantes against each other.

Swiatek, a 19-year-old from Poland, pulled off the biggest win of her career on Sunday when she beat title favourite and former winner Simona Halep of Romania in straight sets.

Italian qualifier Trevisan, 26, reached the last eight after beating fifth-seeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, also in straight sets.

“It will be a very difficult match because Swiatek is also young player,” said the 159th-ranked Trevisan.

Although they’ve never played on the senior tour, Swiatek recalled losing to Trevisan a few years ago when she was still a junior player.

“It was a match in Warsaw, so I was pretty stressed because it was in my hometown and I wanted to play well,” Swiatek said. “But I don't think it's going to matter because it was a few years ago and right now we're in a totally different place.”

Good friends Domi and Diego face off

Thiem, a losing finalist to Nadal in the past two years in Paris, will have his work cut out against Schwartzman.

The Argentine has been in fine form on the clay, beating none other than Nadal in Rome, where he went on to reach the final. He’s reached the quarter-final in Paris without dropping a single set, while Thiem needed five sets in his previous round against Hugo Gaston of France.

Can a mentally and physically spent Thiem overcome a peaking Schwartzman?

“[Dominic] is playing amazing tennis,” said Schwartzman, who has beaten his good friend twice in eight career meetings, including from match point down in Buenos Aires last year. 

“Today was a great match and tough match for him. But I think obviously playing like how I'm playing the past two weeks on clay, I [will] have chances.”

Thiem was hoping he will recover soon from his long match against Gaston, in which he faced a barrage of drop shots and in his own words, had to "run to the net 400 times".

“It's all about recovery,” said Thiem. “Obviously last weeks were tough. I'm not running on a full tank anymore, that's for sure. So I try to recover as good as I can. If I'm able to do that, it's going to be an exciting match. If not, if somehow I don't make it until Tuesday, I think he's going to be the heavy favourite.”