The second week of the French Open is ready to go and I have to say I can't help but feel a little frustrated after Day 7 was put into the books.
Retirements.
Not once, but twice on Saturday I had a player dominating a match and looking like they would cruise through to the next Round only to have their opponent retire. It is highly frustrating when it feels like things are conspiring against you like I feel they have been for me over the last few days, but it is a real kick in the teeth to have a couple of selections voided in that way.
At least it has felt like I am reading the matches better than I have been and hopefully that means a strong second week of the tournament and some strong results to come.
In general the French Open has been something of a disappointment as far as I am concerned- I think the conditions have not helped at all and the drama has been in short supply through the first week at Roland Garros.
My hope has to be that there will be better to come in the days ahead as the matches should naturally be much more competitive, and that is purely coming from a watching view than anything else.
Simona Halep - 5.5 games v Iga Swiatek: There is no doubting the talent the youngster Iga Swiatek has and she has spent very little time on court as she has moved through the French Open draw. A very comfortable clay court performer, the Polish player is going to head into this Fourth Round match hoping to prove she is a lot better than what she showed eighteen months ago.
That was a time in which Swiatek also reached the Fourth Round of the French Open before running into a Simona Halep shaped buzzsaw as she was beaten 6-1, 6-0 on these grounds. Mentally it will be a challenge to put those memories away, but Swiatek has spoken positively about wanting to make up for that match and she is playing well enough to believe she will challenge the top Seed much more.
In saying that, Simona Halep has been playing at a very high level and she earned massive revenge over Amanda Anisimova in the last Round having been embarrassed to lose to the teenager at the French Open in 2019. The Romanian dominated the match and only dropped a single game and Halep has not only moved through the draw with little stress, but she has been playing at an incredibly high consistent level which will make it very hard to beat her here.
Both players have actually been very strong when it comes to returning serve and the slower conditions in Paris will have both Iga Swiatek and Simona Halep believing they are going to have a lot of success on that side of their game. The two players have both won at least 50% of return points played in each match at the tournament and both have created at least nine break points in each match to keep opponents under pressure.
It would be a real surprise if we don't see a few breaks of serve in this one when you think that neither possesses a huge serve. Simona Halep has been protecting her serve a little more effectively than Iga Swiatek though and I think that stands her in good stead in this match and gives her the edge.
You do have to believe this will be more competitive than when they met in June 2019, but even then I think Simona Halep is playing at a higher level than her young opponent. If Halep is anything near as focused as she was in the Third Round, I think she can put the run of games together to eventually move into another Quarter Final here and with a solid margin of victory behind her too.
Elina Svitolina - 2.5 games v Caroline Garcia: There may not be the vast crowds at Roland Garros as you would see in normal circumstances, but those who did attend Carolina Garcia's Third Round win over Elise Mertens did bring an atmosphere to the court. It was comfortably the best match I have watched at the French Open and it did feel like a more 'normal' match as the home hope moved through to the Fourth Round here for only the third time.
In fact it is the first time Garcia has made the Fourth Round of any Grand Slam since the French Open in 2018 as she has underachieved in her Singles career despite being singled out as potential future World Number 1.
It would be interesting to know if Garcia feels she can play her more natural game a little easier in Paris without the expectation that comes with playing in front of a big crowd. She was a little flat in the first set in her Third Round match against Elise Mertens, but Garcia was able to rally and I do wonder if she would have been able to do that if the fans were inside the Stadium and groaning at the poor level they had initially been watching.
We won't know for sure, but Caroline Garcia will know she needs to be better if she is going to reach the Quarter Final for only the second time in her career. You could say she has been a little fortunate to win a couple of her matches through to the Fourth Round and now has to take on Elina Svitolina who has dropped a single set in the draw and who won the title in Strasbourg before the French Open began.
The Ukrainian has not been in dominant form in the tournament, but she has been returning well enough and her level has been pretty consistent. Elina Svitolina will know that the serve has to be better if she is going to have any realistic chance of winning this tournament, while she also has to get over the fact that she has a losing record against this opponent.
She has lost three in a row to Caroline Garcia, but it is Svitolina who has had the majority of break points in two of those losses including on the indoor clay courts of Stuttgart in 2018.
Both players have shown they can play very well on the clay courts and the player who serves the best will have the edge in this one. Caroline Garcia has not really returned as well as Elina Svitolina in the tournament and I think that will be a factor here as the home favourite is perhaps unable to rally for a third time in this tournament.
Caroline Garcia has spent significantly more time on the court than Elina Svitolina and she was not in the best form heading into Roland Garros either. I respect the way she rallied back for the win over Elise Mertens, but her opponent in this Round is playing slightly better than Garcia is and I think that shows up as Elina Svitolina snaps her run of losses to the Frenchwoman.
Kiki Bertens - 4.5 games v Martina Trevisan: Any time a Qualifier is able to reach the second week of a Grand Slam you have to give them credit and Martina Trevisan is one of those who have managed to do that in the Women's draw. At 26 years old and outside the top 100 in the World Rankings, Trevisan has managed to win matches in which she would have been a considerable underdog in her run and that will give her some belief.
The left hander played well in the Qualifiers and her three set wins over Cori Gauff and Maria Sakkari has seen Trevisan just keep herself together mentally at critical times in matches. She was perhaps a little fortunate in the Third Round having seen Sakkari create a lot more break points than Martina Trevisan was able to do herself, while the numbers indicate that she is perhaps winning matches with a bit of fortune on her side.
Martina Trevisan has really impressed in the return aspect of her game but looking back at matches before this tournament it is very difficult to believe she can keep that going. Of course the tournament is being played in different conditions than the usual clay court numbers would have been produced in, but the Italian is going to have to hope that her opponent is perhaps not at full health ahead of this Fourth Round match.
In usual circumstances you would really like Kiki Bertens chances of not only winning this match, but being a potential Grand Slam Champion here. The Second Round win over Sara Errani took more than three hours though and the heavy cramping saw Bertens leave the court in a wheelchair which made her the underdog in the Third Round.
The performance in the win in the last Round was easily the best Bertens has had in this event though and I think that makes the Dutchwoman a decent selection in this match. It is a big spread, but Bertens has a heavy serve and that should set up a few more cheap points, especially if she can pick up from where she left off in the Third Round.
Kiki Bertens has been returning well throughout the French Open having won at least 55% of return points in each match and also creating more break points than she has faced. The feeling is if she serves anywhere like she can that she can keep Martina Trevisan under pressure in this one.
These two players met on a clay court in Charleston last year and it was an easy win for Kiki Bertens who dropped three games on the day. I expect this one to be closer in the conditions, but Bertens looked fully ready to compete in the last Round and I think she can cover a big number behind strong returning and effective serving.
MY PICKS: Simona Halep - 5.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Elina Svitolina - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)
Kiki Bertens - 4.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Barbora Krejickova + 3.5 Games @ 1.95 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Alexander Zverev - 1.5 Sets @ 1.91 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Dominic Thiem - 9.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)
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