Sloane Stephens versus Anett Kontaveit

Two women keen to take advantage of the now wide-open bottom half of the draw are Sloane Stephens and Anett Kontaveit, but only one can advance to the elite eight.  As the higher-seeded player, Stephens is the favorite, but she is by no means a lock.  She barely scraped by Camila Giorgi in the last round, though sometimes escaping with a win can improve a player's performance, as they often swing more freely.  Additionally, although Stephens did not look great coming into Paris, she admittedly is not someone who stresses if she has bad weeks.  She is content being more on the streaky side, and just as she caught fire out of nowhere to win Miami earlier this year, the same could be happening here in Paris.  Kontaveit is a player who can relate to suddenly finding her best form.  Although she is an aggressive player, whose favorite tournament is Wimbledon, it has been on the dirt where this young Estonian has started to make her mark on tour. 

She reached the semifinals of both Stuttgart and Rome to propel herself to a career-high ranking of Number 24, and with her run in Paris, has matched her best result at a major.  She does have the game to break new ground by garnering an upset over Stephens.  She is aggressive, gets a lot of pop off the ground, and is more than capable of finding the angles to open up the court. But Stephens can also give the ball a ride and will test the patience of the Estonian with her ability to track down shots.  Furthermore, Stephens has been here far more often than Kontaveit, and given the way Kontaveit struggled to close out Kvitova in the previous round, Stephens looks the better equipped of the pair to handle the key moments.  For that reason, she must be considered the favorite to move through, but both have a decent look at advancing to the quarterfinals.

Dominic Thiem versus Kei Nishikori

Two men located in the packed, bottom half of the draw that are still very much alive in the hunt for the Roland Garros crown are Dominic Thiem and Kei Nishikori.  Though both have been tested to this point, it should come as no surprise that either has prevailed.  Clay is traditionally where Thiem produces his best tennis, and after being the only man to deal Rafael Nadal a defeat this spring and reaching the final of Madrid, this year has proven to be no exception.  Nishikori, who also reached the final of a Masters with his run in Monte-Carlo, is perhaps a slight surprise if only because it has just been recently that he has been able to start playing a full schedule at the main tour level after battling injuries. 

He is no stranger to getting the job done on the dirt, however, and after having won both of his previous encounters against the Austrian – including one on clay – he is more than capable of getting the job done on Sunday.  All told, this one is likely to come down to a few pivotal points.  Thiem has a game better-suited to the clay and definitely hits a heavier ball that could find its way out of Nishikori's strike zone.  He also gets more juice on his serve.  But Nishikori is the better mover, and if he commits to staying up on the baseline, he can rob the seventh seed of the time he needs to produce his loopier groundstrokes.  Nishikori also enjoys better feel in the forecourt, so provided he does not become passive and pinned behind the baseline, that is another area in this match-up where he can take advantage.  As is so often the case, the edge has to go to the higher-seeded player to make it through but based on past success and results in this rivalry, it is much more of a 50-50 prospect.

Caroline Wozniacki versus Daria Kasatkina

For all that she is the second seed and the reigning Australian Open Champion, Caroline Wozniacki has predominantly been flying under the radar here in Paris.  To some extent, that may be due to the lack of drama surrounding her to this point.  Outside of a near-blip in the first set of her opening match, the Dane has barely been losing games, let alone sets.  But she is facing a young up-and-comer in Daria Kasatkina in her next match, and this is one that merits some attention.  The fourteenth seed has really found her footing this season, reaching back-to-back finals in Dubai and Indian Wells as well as putting together a solid clay campaign to rise to Number 14 in the rankings.  She is a very artistic player, employing a variety of slices and spins, never giving her opponent the same look at the ball twice. 

She presents an intriguing challenge to the second seed, in that much of Wozniacki's success stems from her ability to absorb and redirect pace and using her wheels to act as a human backboard.  But the Russian does not give her lot of pace and does plenty of re-directing of her own.  Historically, this has been a conundrum for Wozniacki, as evidenced by the fact that she trails in this rivalry 1-2, with both of her losses to Kasatkina coming earlier this year.  Because of her recent success against Wozniacki, Kasatkina should be feeling confident about her chances of earning the victory, but the unknown is how she will handle playing to advance ever deeper at a major.  Wozniacki has more experience at this stage, and she certainly does not give anything away for free, which can be a nightmare if one is feeling the nerves trying to close out a match.  Based on form to this juncture, the nod of the head goes to Wozniacki, but no one should be stunned in the least if Kasatkina earns a third win over the Dane this year.