World No. 1 Serena Williams, a favorite to claim her third Roland Garros title, faces a former finalist on Wednesday at the French Open. Meanwhile, two women who never before have reached this stage at a major each aim to go one round further.

Serena Williams vs. Sara Errani

In theory, the matches are supposed to get tougher as players advance through the draw.  But after pulling off Houdini acts against Victoria Azarenka and Sloane Stephens, as well as seeing Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova fall on Monday, it could be argued that the remaining path to Serena Williams capturing her third Roland Garros title has become considerably easier.  As this year's tournament has proved, however, looks can be deceiving, which is why Williams will not be taking Sara Errani lightly when the two meet in the quarterfinals.

Errani is the ultimate professional, so there is no question that she will fight until the last ball against Williams.  She is exceptionally speedy around the court and at times can be almost like playing against a backboard.  In addition to that, she has the skills to inject some variety into her game and possibly take Williams out of her rhythm. She also holds an advantage over the American in one area of this matchup in that she has better touch and feel at the net.  Unfortunately, the issue for Errani is that getting to the net against a powerful shot-maker like Williams can prove difficult, since she often finds herself pinned well behind the baseline.

Of course, the bigger problem for Errani in this match is that it is completely within the hands of Williams.  Whereas the top seed's serve is a massive weapon, Williams is going to have ample opportunity to tee off on the first and second serves of Errani.  Furthermore, Williams enters this contest knowing that she possesses enough power to take Errani right out of the match, whereas Errani is incapable of hitting big enough to regularly produce winners, especially against a player as quick as Williams.  So, short of a bad day at the office for the American in which Errani's consistency frustrates her, it is hard to envision this encounter ending in anything but a victory for Williams.

Aside from the inequalities in their physical games, history favors Williams advancing to the semifinals as well.  The two have met on many occasions, and the American has come out the victor in every one of them.  To make matters worse for Errani, only twice have their matches gone the distance, and the most comprehensive loss Williams has inflicted on the Italian came in the semifinals of this event two years ago, when she gave up just one game.  Suffice it to say, there are not a lot of places where Errani can look for positives in this match up, but all is not necessarily hopeless.  Their most recent meeting, which came a little over a month ago on clay in Fed Cup competition, did go three sets.  Additionally, Williams has been nowhere near her best in the three rounds prior to this quarterfinal, so there is always the chance that she could commit a plethora of unforced errors and help Errani's cause.

Truth be told, in spite of her sub-par performances to get to this point, there are very few people who believe Williams is going to tumble out at this stage of the tournament.  Unlike Azarenka and Stephens, Errani does not have the physical attributes that allow her to consistently impose herself on Williams, so it is going to take some other phenomenal effort from the Italian to force Williams to press.  Short of such a scenario, this match is Williams' for the taking, and expect her to make good on it.

Timea Bacsinszky vs. Alison Van Uytvanck

As the upsets at this year's Roland Garros began to mount, it became abundantly clear that at least a few players were going to greatly benefit from this turn of events.  Timea Bacsinszky has been the cause of a couple of those stunners and, as a reward, finds herself in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.  On Wednesday, she will face a fellow first-time major quarterfinalist in the unheralded Alison Van Uytvanck, and for one of them, the remarkable run will continue to the final four.

Even the most hardcore tennis fan is probably not overly familiar with Van Uytvanck.  Aged 21, the Belgian is ranked just inside the top 100 and has spent the bulk of her career competing on the ITF Circuit and contesting the qualifying events to gain entrance to WTA tournaments.  She made her Grand Slam debut last season, and in her last five major appearances, she only advanced beyond the first round once.  She has been admirably solid this year in Paris, however, and has dropped just one set to reach the last eight.  She may be the clear underdog in this match, but her chance for advancement cannot be dismissed.

Playing Bacsinszky is going to be a huge step up for Van Uytvanck, however.  The 23rd seed has already sent higher-seeded opposition like Madison Keys and Petra Kvitova packing, and she will have no qualms about doing the same to the Belgian.  In addition to that, Bacsinszky is simply the better player.  She has more pop off the ground, possesses better footwork and speed, and overall has more variety in her game.  After losing nearly three years of her career to various injuries, she is going to be eager to utilize her superior strengths and continue her march to the semifinals in order to make up for lost time.

But the Swiss, and everyone else for that matter, must not find themselves guilty of prematurely looking ahead to the next match.  This is uncharted territory for both women, and while that does not level the playing field, it does make a Bacsinszky victory a little less certain.  It is true that Van Uytvanck has only had to play one seed to get to this point.  That match came in her opening round against the 32d seed Zarina Diyas, so she has technically had the easier path.  But that path could also be interpreted as the Belgian solidly and successfully taking advantage of the opportunities that were presented to her in playing less experienced and less accomplished players than those she would have otherwise been scheduled to meet.  Her upcoming quarterfinal match could easily be the one in which she feels the least amount of pressure because she is such an obvious underdog.  

Any pressures and expectations Van Uytvanck might have perceived will now be placed squarely on the shoulders of Bacsinszky, which is a complete role reversal for the Swiss.  She has been the lower-seeded player in her two prior rounds, but she is now the overwhelming favorite.  She will also be keenly aware that this could potentially be the best look she will ever have of making the final four at a Grand Slam.  It is those pressures and realizations that can mess with players' heads and have a negative impact on their game.  The burden will be on Bacsinszky to shut all of that out and produce her best tennis to move on to the next round.

The odds definitely favor Bacsinszky advancing to her first major semifinal.  She is the better player, and as long as she plays within herself, she should garner the win.  But if she falls short of that, Van Uytvanck could take advantage.  She has done exactly that all tournament long, and there is no reason for her to stop now if such a chance were to once again present itself.