After some shocking upsets and multiple weather delays, the remainder of the women who make up this year's batch of quarterfinalists at Roland Garros was finally determined.  Not surprisingly, Serena Williams is among the last eight.  That her opponent, Yulia Putintseva, has also reached this stage is more surprising.  On Thursday, they will face off to decide whether order is maintained or chaos reigns.

Naturally, most people will look for some semblance of order to be maintained courtesy of a victory for Williams over Putintseva.  The many accolades that have been ascribed to her, along with the fact that she is still firmly entrenched as the dominant No. 1 player in the world, mean that she is a favorite in every match that she enters.  Add in all of the experience that she has playing tennis of this magnitude, and Serena becomes an even more daunting challenge for any of the opposition.

While Williams presents a tall task to any competitor, she might come across as even more so for someone like Putintseva.  The Russian-born woman from Kazakhstan is only 21 years of age and has yet to win a title of any type on tour.  While she is ranked a very respectable No. 60, she has yet to crack the top 50 in the rankings.  This tournament also represents the first time she has ever made it to the second week of a major, so she faces the double challenge of trying to reach her first semifinal at a major as well as to find a way to deal a defeat to the American.

What youth lacks in experience, though, it can often make up for in exuberance and hunger.  At 21, Putintseva is looking to make her mark on tour and has overcome some quality opponents to reach this stage, including Carla Suarez Navarro in the last round.  She is a feisty competitor who particularly likes to take the ball on with her forehand, and she is most at home on the clay.  Additionally, although she has lost to Williams in their two prior meetings, the first set of each of those matches went to a tiebreak.  If she can somehow get over the hump there and avoid going away in the second set, perhaps she might have what it takes to defy the odds.  Williams, after all, is the one playing with all of the pressure.  She is aware that the top half opened up for her nicely, and with the exits of Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska, the bottom half of the draw has also become more open.  If Williams allows nerves to creep into her own game, this could get interesting.

Putintseva is going to need Williams to be feeling the nerves, however, since it is hard to imagine the upset occurring without the top seed helping Putintseva's cause.  Williams has such a decisive advantage in terms of power from the ground, the serve, the return, and overall court coverage that there is no safe place for Putintseva to go in this match.  She is going to have to red-line her game, gamble on both of her first and second serves, and take her opportunities on Williams' second serve if she is to have a prayer.

All told, it is difficult to envision this encounter ending in anything other than a victory for the American.  As is the case against so many of her opponents, she simply has too much game.  Past history would suggest that at least the first set will not all be one-way traffic, but short of Williams buckling under the pressure, look for her to advance to the final four in Paris.

It is a rare thing these days for a draw to hold true to form, and although technically it underwent a couple of hiccups, the top quarter of the men's draw ultimately ended up where it was supposed to be according to seeding.  Most will have banked on top seed Novak Djokovic holding up his end of the bargain, but there would have been less confidence that Tomas Berdych would do the same.  Nonetheless, the Czech has managed to do just that, and on Thursday, he will aim to derail Djokovic's title hopes.

Berdych will have his work cut out for him, however, and he knows it.  Djokovic has been an esteemed member of the Big Four for several season now, and at least over the course of 2015 and into 2016, he has even managed to distinguish himself among that elite group.  He has accumulated a large lead at the top of the rankings and has shown himself extremely difficult to beat at any tournament, especially the business end of one.  He reached the final of every major last year, and right now few would bet against him repeating the feat in 2016.

But Berdych is a player who will not shy away from attempting to defy the odds.  He is a tour veteran who has been a regular member of the top 10.  He is also a former Wimbledon finalist who is a familiar face in the second week of a major.  He has earned 12 singles titles in his career, including a Masters crown.  It would be fair to say that he has enjoyed an above-average career, and if anything, he has arguably been a bit unlucky.  In another era, he might already be a Grand Slam singles champion, but instead he has had the misfortune of having a career that overlaps with some of the greatest in the sport.  That is why he is aware he has to come up with something special if he is going to snatch up one of these major titles.

It is highly likely that the seventh seed is going to have to go out of his comfort zone and consistently execute a risky game plan if he is to upset Djokovic.  The only area where the Czech has an advantage is that he generally has more power from the ground and on serve, but that advantage is almost negligible, and even more so on a clay court.  The top seed's exceptional defense makes it difficult to get the ball by him, and his phenomenal return means even the biggest servers have trouble earning free points.  He also has more margin for error on his shots, which means the longer the rallies go, the more likely it will be Berdych who commits the error.

The differences in their respective games is not the only area where Djokovic has an advantage, though.  He also enjoys an overwhelming lead in their matchup at 23-2.  He has not lost to the Czech in three years, which includes winning their last 10 encounters.  So where does Berdych look to find inspiration that he can end that skid?  It may not be much, but they have only met three times on clay, with all three meetings going the distance.  Berdych's last win over Djokovic also came on clay.  Lastly, there is the opportunity to potentially cash in on the pressure Djokovic is feeling to complete the career Grand Slam.  The Serb played some tight tennis in his previous round, and his racquet is apt to only feel that much heavier as he gets closer to finally finding success in Paris.  In short, this may be one of the best looks Berdych has had in a while at notching a victory over the top seed.

This quarterfinal does offer the possibility of becoming an enthralling match.  Berdych is capable of playing top-shelf tennis, and nerves have been visible in Djokovic's game. One would be wise to still believe the Serb is going to advance to the semifinals.  He is the better player, and his history with Berdych suggests he is heavily favored to do so.  But if Djokovic is off his game, do not be completely shocked if Berdych moves on to the final four at his expense.